Lone Eagle
by Undefined and Fine with It
Summary: "What's it like living with the Golden Boy?" "What's it like always being second best?" Emmeline Grayson has a talent for saying as little as possible and letting her twin brother Dick take the spotlight. But when she becomes part of The Team and is forced to work outside of her comfort zone, will she stay in the shadows? Or will she learn to share the spotlight with her brother?
1. Chapter 1

Lone Eagle

Summary: "What's it like living with the Golden Boy?" "What's it like always being second best?" Emmeline Grayson has a talent for saying as little as possible and letting her twin brother Dick take the spotlight. But when she becomes part of The Team and is forced to work outside of her comfort zone, will she stay in the shadows? Or will she share the spotlight with her brother?

Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice.

Fireworks

I'm not a fancy person. I guess if you were going on that track, you could also call me rich, but that's not a me like trait. That's Bruce.

And, to a certain extent, my brother Richard, aka Dick, and I.

I was eight when I watched my parents fall to their death. I was eight when I realized that life wasn't all sunshine, lollipops, and rainbows. That bad things happened to good people, like my parents. I can still see them, reaching for something to grab onto, knowing there was nothing there. And at least once a week, my mind replays the sickening crack that was my family hitting the ground in my dreams. Even four years later, I still wake up screaming and crying.

A childhood lost. In a millisecond.

My name is Emmeline Grayson. This is my story.

Gotham City; July 4th 2010; 11:50 EDT

"Emma!" My brother called up to where I sat, perched on the roof, my hair up in a braided ponytail.

"What?" I called back, slightly annoyed. I was working on my summer homework; a page long essay on the significance of Magna Carta.

"We've got a situation down town." That got my attention. I grabbed my notebook, and scrambled through the window. I sprinted through my room, dropping my notes on the ground, and once out the door, ran towards the stairway and slid down the banister, to where my brother was waiting outside the grandfather clock. Pulling one of the pendulums, he opened the secret door down to the Batcave.

"What happened?" I asked him as the elevator made it's descent.

"Mr. Freeze. Heading towards the park."

"Oh great." Once the doors were open, we split up to put on our uniforms. I stripped down until I was just in my underwear, and then pulled on my black leggings, slipped on my hunter green shirt with navy vest like details, pulled on my black chiffon wrap skirt, put on my black cape with navy lining, and ran out to the main room, boots and belt in hand.

"Where's the gum?" I called to my brother as I put on my boots.

"Here!" He chucked it at me, and I caught it, then slipped two pieces into my mouth. As I chewed, I clicked my belt on, and checked that I had all my little gadgets in place. I spit the gum out, and stuck it on the outside corners of my domino mask, then stretched it out a bit to make it smooth. It was kind of gross, but I'd been doing it for so long now, it was routine.

"The bikes?"

"Yeah." My brother told me.

"Perfect." We ran up the stairs to the garage, slipped on our helmets, and opened the door. We hit 60 before we were out of the driveway.

We got to the park in about 10 minutes, and ditched the bikes. No one would steal them, and if they tried, there were multiple trackers. It was easy to locate Mr. Freeze, you could hear the people screaming. Luckily, we came from the right direction, so we were behind him.

Many people were already frozen, and tons more were running for it. Robin pulled a batarang from his belt, and threw it, hitting the freeze-gun thing.

"Batman." Mr. Freeze said, in his creepy tone. "I was wondering where you-"

He was cut off as Robin and I let out our signature cackles. The dude in the dome looked around, wondering where we were.

I vaunted forwards, and landed on Mr. Freeze's dome thing, then pushed off, causing him to fall forwards. Robin landed next to me, and we each threw a Batarang at him, cracking his dome.

"Oh, the Boy and Girl Wonders." He drawled, "The Bat sent you to drag me off to prison. Frankly, I'm underwhelmed."

"Great, but I'm kind of in a hurry here." Robin said, not looking at Mr. Freeze, but at the rocky outcrop behind him.

"Kids, always in such a rush." He said, before pointing his ice gun at Robin and I. "I prefer to preserve these moments. Forever."

"Not talking to you." I said, annoyance dripping from my voice. Come on Bats, get it over with. We're supposed to be at the Hall of Justice in like, an hour, and we have to debrief before. Great, we'll be late. I'm a poet and I know it.

Batman jumped from the rocky outcropping, his cape flying out behind him, and punched Mr. Freeze's dome, effectively knocking him out.

"Can we go now?" Robin and I chorused. Bats nodded, and we ran to our bikes.

"Well Eagle, that was fun."

"Shut up." I told him, as I put on my helmet.

"Oh, come on. You know you love me." My brother's voice played in the speakers in my helmet.

"Let's just get back."

"Eagle, Robin. Once you're back at the Cave, clean up and prepare yourselves for this afternoon. Briefing will be postponed." Batman said.

"Asterous. Thanks Bats." My brother replied as we sped off.

"Perfect." I muttered, as I accelerated.

"Excited, Miss Emma?"

"Of course Alfred!"

"How could she not be?" My brother asked as he finished off his sandwich. "Today's the day!"

"I knew that Dick!" I responded, indignant. "I've been looking forward to this since I heard about it!"

"Just making sure little sis, just making sure."

"Stop it!" I snapped at him.

We were eating sandwiches in the Bat Cave while we waited for Bruce to get back.

"You kids ready?"

"You're late!"

"We're gonna be late!"

"So not asterous!" Dick and I chorused.

"Yes, no, and what is asterous again? All the others had to deal with villains this morning as well, so no we are not going to be late. But we will if you two don't get a move on!" Bruce told us. He was still in uniform, except for his cowl, which he pulled on. "Put on your masks and let's go."

Once our masks were on, we ran to catch up, then followed him into the Batmobile, and sped off towards DC.

"Remember you two: behave, and do not let anyone know about the Watchtower."

"The others don't?" I asked, surprised.

"You only found out from hacking." Bats replied.

"True, but still..."

"Not a word. Or you're grounded."

"Normal or no patrol?" My brother asked. "Cuz I'm fine with normal groundings but-"

"No patrol."

"Alright."

Washington DC; July 4th, 2010; 14:00 EDT

"Today's the day." Batman said to Robin and I. Pride was evident in his voice. What a surprise, that never happened.

"Welcome to the Hall of Justice." Green Arrow said, and I fought the urge to roll my eyes. No duh. Where else would we be?

Truthfully though, I was nervous. I'm pretty sure Bru-ack Batman thought we would be inducted into the League today, but what if Robin and I were too young? I knew the other partners had at least 3 years on us, even though we had more experience.

"Headquarters of the Justice League." Aquaman continued. I once again, fought the urge to roll my eyes.

"Aw man!" I recognized Kid Flash's voice; we'd met once before. "I knew we'd be the last ones here!"

As we walked up, people swarmed us, taking pictures, and saying 'I see so and so'. They also mixed up Speedy and Kid Flash, then called Kid Flash stuff like Flash Junior or Flash Boy. It was pretty funny, but I kept a straight face. Bats do not show emotion.

"I'm glad we're all here." Aqualad said. I silently agreed. It would be fun getting to know these guys. I could finally share jokes and stories about my escapades through the city with someone other than my brother, who had been there with me for most of them.

"Have all five sidekicks ever been in the same place at the same time?" Kid Flash asked. I mentally face palmed. Not sidekicks, partners.

"Don't call us sidekicks." Speedy said angrily. "Not after today." Someone thought they were being inducted...

"Sorry. First time at the Hall. I'm a bit overwhelmed." Whelmed. There it was. Again.

"You're overwhelmed, Freeze was underwhelmed why isn't anyone ever just..."

"Whelmed." My brother and I said at the same time.

And then we went through the doors. The Hall of Justice was, well, overwhelming.

"Oh. Maybe that's why." My brother said, and I held back a laugh, smirking instead. The doors beneath the gigantic statues of the members of the Justice League opened to reveal Martian Manhunter and Red Tornado.

"Robin, Eagle, Speedy, Aqualad, Kid Flash. Welcome." Martian Manhunter said, then turned, and led us through the doors. "You now have unlimited access to the gym, our fully stocked galley, and, of course, our library."

"Make yourselves at home." Flash said. My brother, Kid Flash, and Aqualad took the chairs, so I settled with sitting on the armrest of my brother's chair. The mentors huddled close by.

"Quick debrief to discuss the coincidence of four ice villains attacking on the same day. We shouldn't be long." Batman said, then turned and walked towards the zeta beam

"Recognized Batman, 02; Aquaman, 06; Flash, 04; Green Arrow, 08; Martian Manhunter, 07; Red Tornado, 16." The computer chimed, and the door to the slightly hidden zeta tube opened. Speedy got up, and stood angrily behind them.

"Someone's mad." I muttered. Aqualad looked at me. "I can talk." I said, annoyed.

"That's it?" Speedy said, obviously angry. "You promised us a real look inside!"

"It's a first step." Aquaman said calmly. I swear, nothing fazed that guy. "You've been granted access few others get."

"Oh really?" Speedy responded, then pointed up towards the onlookers. "Who cares which side of the glass we're on?" I stood from my perch. Something told me this was going to get real interesting really fast.

"Roy, you just need to be patient." Green Arrow began. I scoffed, hasn't he heard of secret ID?

"What I need is respect." Speedy spat. Shit, that's never a good sign. He turned, and looked back at us.

"They're treating us like kids! Worse, like sidekicks!" He spoke the word like it was venom, it kind of was. "We deserve better than this." I looked at the others in turn. We kind of did, I mean, we barely get to interact with the other partners, even though I for one would love to, but what was Speedy thinking? "You're kidding, right? You're playing their game? Why? Because you think they play fair? Today was supposed to be the day! Step one in becoming full members of the League!"

"Well, sure." said Kid Flash. "But I thought step one was a tour of the HQ." This is not the HQ Kid Flash. Or Kid Stupid might be more accurate...

"This isn't the League's real HQ! I bet they never told you it's just a front for tourists, and a pit stop for catching zeta beam teleports to the real HQ. An orbiting satellite called the Watchtower."

I looked at Kid Flash and Aqualad. Kid Flash looked shocked, and Aqualad looked almost pleasantly surprised, like he got something he wanted but never expected for his birthday.

"I know, I know, but I thought maybe we could make an exception." Green Arrow said. Bats looked annoyed. I didn't blame him. He'd been ticked when Rob and I found out. "Or not." Speedy glared at us. What was with this guy? The few times I'd met him before, he seemed pretty chill.

"Not helping your cause son." Aquaman said. "Stand down or-"

"Or what?" Speedy cut him off. "You'll send me to my room? I'm not your son! I'm not even his. I thought I was his partner. I guess not. Not anymore." He took his signature yellow hat off. And threw it on the ground. Ok, so did not see that coming. Seriously! "Guess they're right about you three. You're not ready." He said, then walked out the door.

"Superman to Justice League. There's been an explosion at Project Cadmus. It's on fire."

"I've had my suspicions about Cadmus..." I heard Batman say before I stopped paying attention. What was Roy thinking? Was he seriously going to go solo? Just because he wasn't inducted today? Didn't he knew you had to prove yourself, and what he did wasn't helping?

Then again, I realized with a sickening feeling, Batman didn't give tons of opportunities for me to prove myself. What if I'm always thought of as too weak, not good enough?

Way worse than my brother...

"To block out the sun." That was Zatara. Oh, so the League's gonna go save the world again. I childishly hoped they would let us come, then realized there was no way they would. "Requesting full League response!"

"Superman," Batman said, "It's a small fire. Local authorities have it under control."

"Then Cadmus can wait." Batman pressed a few buttons on the computer. I walked over, and the others followed. "All Leaguers meet at Zatara's coordinates. Batman out." He then turned to us. "Stay put."

"What?"

"Why?" My brother and I asked.

"This is a League responsibility." Aquaman said.

"You're not trained." Flash added.

"Since when?" Now Kid Flash sounded annoyed that the person who trained him was saying he wasn't trained.

"I meant you're not trained to work as part of this team." Flash continued. Oh, like that made it better.

"There will be other missions. When you're ready." Said Aquaman.

"But for now, stay put." Batman said. The words or else were unsaid, but left hanging in the air. I had half a mind to throw a little hissy fit. We were not children!

I glared at my mentor. So I was good enough for Gotham, where the crazies roamed, but not good enough to help fight with about 20 well trained others? That was unfair!

And then, the Leaguers walked into the zeta tube, leaving us sidekicks in the library.

"When we're ready?" Kid Flash asked. "How are we ever supposed to be ready when they treat us like, like"

"Sidekicks." I put in.

"My mentor, my king. I thought he trusted me." Aqualad sounded severely put out.

"Trust? They don't even trust us with the basics! They've got a HQ in space!" KF's arms were up in annoyance and disbelief. Out of context, it would have looked really funny, but at the moment, I felt like going to the gym and beating something up. Or Batman. If i could throw punches at Batman I would feel better.

"What else aren't they telling us?" Aqualad asked. Well, to start the fact that they think we're kids.

"I have a better question. Why didn't we leave with Speedy?" My brother asked.

"Ditto." I said. Possibilities running through my head about what the heck were we gonna do?

"What is... Project Cadmus?" Aqualad asked.

"Don't know..." I looked over to my brother. "You thinking what I'm thinking bro?"

"Find out? Yeah." He responded.

"Wait, you two are siblings!" Kid Flash said.

"Acute observation, Kid Stupid." I responded, heading over to the computer.

"Hey!" I typed in some codes, before the computer chimed,

"Access denied." I looked at my brother.

"I bet it'll take me less than five minutes."

"Ten at the least."

"You're on." I looked through the codes.

"Ha! Same as in the Cave! I win!" I typed in a few more codes, and then was granted access. "Project Cadmus, genetics lab in DC. And that is all." I turned back towards the others.

"But, Batman is suspicious..." My brother added, "Which means we should investigate."

"Solve their case before they do. It would be poetic justice." Aqualad added.

"Justice, that's what they're all about."

"Show them that we are ready, and can work as a team." I added quietly.

"But they said stay put."

"For blotting out the sun," Robin began. We're gonna get busted eventually for this. "Not for this."

"Wait, are you saying you're going to Cadmus? Cuz if you're in, I'm in." Kid Flash said. He was obviously excited.

"Ditto. Not like you'd do anything crazy without me. Anyway, I've been looking for an opportunity to, what is it, oh yeah prove myself." I added.

"Just like that?" Aqualad asked. "We're a team on a mission?"

"We didn't come for a play date." Robin answered.

"Then I too, am in."

Kid Flash ran up the front of the building, grabbed the falling scientists, put them on the roof, and then scrambled and fell, grabbing onto the second story window. I would have laughed if I wasn't in such a serious mood.

"So smooth." Robin remarked.

"Does he always have to run ahead?" I didn't bother listening to him. I ran off, grabbing my grappling gun, ready to join KF on the second story. My brother obviously had the same idea, and once I heard his echoing cackle, I started one of my own.

Swinging off the fire truck's ladder alongside Robin, we landed on the ledge KF was hanging from, jumped inside, and pulled him in. Then, we ran into Cadmus. My brother and I sat in front of two computers, and began reading the code.

"Help would have been appreciated." Aqualad said as he entered the room.

"You survived, didn't you?" I asked. "Or are we just seeing a zombie?"

"Anyway, investigating. Poetic justice, remember?"

"There was something in the-" Aqualad started.

"Elevators should be locked down." Kid Flash said. Robin and I ditched our computers, and ran towards the elevators. My brother pressed the down button, multiple times.

"This is wrong." Robin said. "This is a high speed express elevator, which you do not need in a two story building."

"Neither does what I saw." Aqualad put in, then proceeded to force the elevator doors open, revealing a long, dark, elevator shaft that seemed to go on forever.

"Remind me never to fall down elevator shafts in strange buildings." I muttered to KF.

"Yup, that's why they need an express elevator." My brother shot a grappling hook at the ceiling, then jumped. I followed his example, and went down. When I stopped, next to Robin, I was still hanging.

"End of the rope." I said, then swung over towards the walls. If I fell here- holy Batman don't think about it. I landed on the ledge, and internally sighed. I wouldn't suffer the same fate as my parents, at least not today. A few seconds later, Kid Flash and Aqualad joined my brother and I on the ledge. I pulled up my holocomputer that was hidden in my glove.

"Bypassing security..." I muttered as the computer did the work for me. It boring, yes, but more accurate. I was pretty good, but we didn't want to risk getting caught.

"In. Go." We forced open the doors, and entered the hallway on floor -26.

"Welcome to Project Cadmus." Robin said, clearly surprised about how huge it was. Kid Flash sped off, deaf to us telling him to wait. We ran after him, only to see these... Things.

They could best be described as a creepy mix between elephants and gorillas. And they were huge.

"No. Nothing odd going on here." Aqualad said, as the beings walked past us. I was suddenly struck with the urge to run, get out of here, go back to the Hall of Justice.

Then I remembered that Eagle was fearless. Well, not really, but I shoved my fears to the back of my mind as we continued on.

"Ok, I'm officially whelmed." Robin said after I opened another door. The room was full of creatures, in these blue tubes, that looked like they were generating power.

"This is how they hide this underground facility," KF stated, "from the world. The real Cadmus isn't on grid. These things generate their power!"

"Of course. Even the name is a clue. The Cadmus myth created a new race my sewing dragon's teeth into the earth."

"And this Cadmus make new life too."

"They're called genomorphs." I was reading off my holocomputer, "The stats on these things are... Crazy. Super strength, telepathy, and razor claws? These are living weapons!"

"They're engineering an army." KF said gravely. "But for who?"

"Wait, there's something else. Project Kr."

"What is it?" The boys had gathered around and were reading over my shoulder.

"File's encrypted. I can't hack it-"

"Don't move!" Shouted a rough voice, and we turned. It was a guy in a mask along with a bunch of the genomorphs. Shit, shit, shit. "Wait. Robin, Eagle, Aqualad, Kid Flash?"

"Least he got your name right." I muttered.

"I know you." Aqualad stated. I was still trying to get to the files with Robin's help. "Guardian. A hero."

"I do my best." The guy, Guardian, whatever said.

"What are you doing here?" Accusing much, KF?

"That's my question. I'm chief of security. And you are trespassing. But we can call the Justice League. Figure this out."

"You think the League's gonna approve of you breeding weapons?" KF was seriously outraged now.

"Weapons? What do- what have I- ugh my head!" What the heck is going on with this Guardian guy? "Take em down! No mercy!" The genomorphs sprang into action-towards us.

Thankfully, Robin was thinking ahead and dropped a smoke bomb, then shot a grappling hook towards the ceiling. I followed his lead, hoping the other two would figure something out. We vaulted over the beam, and landed in front the smoke screen, then took off running.

"We need to disable the alarms!" I pulled up my wrist computer, and began trying to open the door.

"Way to be a team player, Wonders!" Jeez KF. What's got your panties in a twist. Oh wait. Cadmus.

"Weren't you right behind us?" I pointed out. We ran into the elevator, Aqualad barely making it in, and my brother hit the down button. To level -52

"Um, Rob? This isn't the way out." I said, wary of what he was doing.

"Yeah, but Project Kr is down. Thinking ahead, lil sis."

"This is out of control." Aqualad said. The normally calm Atlantean was obviously frazzled. "Perhaps... Perhaps we should call the League." He was right. I slumped against the wall, and slid down it until I was sitting on the floor of the elevator. i was exhausted. Batman was going to kill us! Scold us, like we were little kids. We sure acted like them, running in without a plan. If we did anything, we proved that we weren't ready.

But then we were at -52, and back into action. Whether we liked it or not.

The doors opened, and we braced ourselves to be attacked. Except we weren't. The elevator doors revealed a reddish pink (pinkish red?) room that looked strangely like how I pictured the inside of the human esophagus looked like. It practically screamed 'I am unnatural and should not be here!'

Rob ran forward, and I stood up and followed him. There was like a mini science lab in there, complete with computers and microscopes. It was just so... Strange. They were things you would see in a normal lab, in this freaky setting.

"Which way?" Aqualad asked.

"Bizzaro hallway one or two?" I asked.

"Hold!" Some creepy thing that I could only assume was a genomorph called. It looked alien; horns on head, pale purple skin, and was slightly creepy. Screw never getting scared. These things- and the lab setting- scared me shitless. Did I show it? No. Well, not until the thing show barrels at us using only its mind.

We ran for it. Down bizzaro hallway number one.

Kid Flash had obviously best us to the doorway, and wedged a cylinder of some kind in it so we could get in. Project Kr. We were there.

Once we were in, Aqualad kicked the cylinder out. Rob and I began to hack, trying to find out what the heck was going on here.

"I disabled the door. We're safe." Rob said.

"We're trapped." Aqualad remarked.

"Uh, guys? You'll want to see this." We looked over to KF's control panel, where he pressed a few buttons. A pod was revealed.

And inside was what was obviously Superman's clone.

* * *

Thank you to everyone who read this. This story is my first ever for Young Justice, and my first chapter story in a long time. Here's how I plan on working this. I've written a few chapters ahead, so once I write another one (which will take a week or so depending on my motivation) I'll post the next. If something happens and I can't get on for a while, I'll post one of my pre-written ones. Thanks again, and don't forget to review!


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Young Justice**

Lone Eagle Chapter 2: Fireworks

"Capital K, lowercase r. The atomic symbol for Krypton." KF said in awe. "I should have realized it earlier. A clone."

"Eagle. Hack." Aqualad commanded.

"Right." I plugged my glove into the computer, then used my bypass, they knew we were here anyways, plus it was faster, and entered the files. "Weapon Designation Superboy. A clone grown in 16 weeks! From DNA supplied by Superman."

"Stolen from Superman." Rob corrected.

"No way the big guy knows about this." KF put in.

"Solar suit collects yellow sun radiation 24/7."

"And these… creatures?" Aqualad gestured to the things above Superboy in the pod.

"Genomorph-nomes. Telepathic. Force feeding him an education."

"And we can guess what else." Kid Flash sounded serious for once. "They're making a slave out of well, Superman's son."

"Now we contact the League." Aqualad pressed the symbol on his belt, which I'm betting had a transmitter in it. But I knew it was pointless. While my brother had hacked the elevators, I had made sure that if we needed it, we would be able to send out an SOS. There was barely a signal 20 stories above, no chance of one now.

"No signal." Rob pointed out.

"We're in too deep. Literally."

"This sucks." I slumped down to the floor. "Remind me again, why didn't we leave with Speedy?" They all looked at me, as if they agreed, but didn't have the guts to say it.

"This is wrong." Kid Flash blatantly changed the subject. "We can't leave him like this." I fought the urge to remind him that we weren't leaving either.

"Free him." Aqualad decided. Robin took control of the computer this time, and pressed a few buttons. I stood as steam rose from the pod as the front of it lifted, creating an eerie sight. Once in was open, the clone lay there for a few seconds, and then made a fist with one of his hands. I saw his bright blue eyes for a millisecond, then he jumped out at us.

He hit Aqualad, pushing him for a few feet before falling, Superboy holding our friend down. I ran over, as the clone began to punch Aqualad, and with the help of Robin and Kid Flash, grabbed his arms.

"We're on your side!" Rob got out before Superboy threw the arm Kid Flash was holding backwards, sending the speedster flying backwards into a rack of test tubes and then to the floor, out cold.

"I don't want to do this!" I yelled, then hit Superboy hard with a gas pellet. He was knocked back a few feet, and as he stood, I shot my taser ropes at him. They hit their target, and shocked him. But he wasn't affected by it. He grabbed the ropes, and pulled on them. I didn't even have a chance to let go of them before pulled me in, punched me to the ground, and put his foot on my stomach. I could barely breath. My heart was racing.

"Enough!" I heard Aqualad yell, and the pressure was off of my chest. I groaned, then got into a crouch.

"You okay?" Rob asked. I tried to nod, but black spots were covering my vision, and I collapsed out of my brother's grip, and onto the floor. Then, there was blackness.

_Time runs short. You must awaken. You must awaken NOW! _

A strange voice commanded in my head. I snapped my head awake, and fought the urge to scream.

I was in a glass pod, my hands held up and behind my back in a weird way that twisted my shoulder blades and hurt like hell. Superboy stood in front of us, a look of almost- was that smugness?- no, curiosity, was on his face. But there was also smugness, and I wanted nothing more than to wipe that smug look off of his face.

"What! What do you want?" Kid Flash's voice was muffled by the glass. "Quit staring, you're creepin me out!"

"Uh, KF? How about we not tick off the guy that can fry us with a look?" Rob was always oddly calm, and I silently detested him for that. Me staying calm was like a bird not flying.

"We only sought to help you." Again, Aqualad was always calm.

"Yeah, and look how he repays us!"

"Kid, please. Be quiet now. I believe our new friend was not in control of his actions." From the location of my pod, I could see my brother fiddling with one of his handcuffs. The lock pickers! The stupid scientists hadn't removed our weapons. We could fight back.

"What if I…" He was obviously hesitant. "What if I wasn't?"

"He can talk?" If we weren't in these pods I would have slapped the speedster.

"Yes, _he_ can." Rob and I glared at KF.

"Not like I said it." Yeah like that makes it any better.

"The genomorphs taught you. Telepathically." Aqualad realized.

"Yes. They taught me much. I can read, write, I know the names of things."

"But have you seen them?" I asked quietly. What's the point of knowing the names of things if you haven't seen objects to put them too? "Have you ever actually seen the sky? The sun?"

"Images are implanted in my mind, but no, I have never actually seen them."

"Do you know what-who you are?" Aqualad asked.

"I am the Superboy. A genomorph, a clone made from DNA taken from the Superman. Made to replace him should he perish, or terminate him should he leave the path of the light."

"To be like Superman is a worthy cause." Jeez, someone must have given Aqualad lessons in eloquence. "But like Superman, you deserve a life of your own. Beyond the suit. Beyond Cadmus."

"I live because of Cadmus! Cadmus is my home!"

"This is a test tube. We can show you the sun." Rob pointed out.

"I'm pretty sure it's after midnight. But, we can show you the moon." Kid Flash corrected my brother.

"We can introduce you to Superman." Aqualad added. Superboy looked shocked, like he didn't believe it. He would do it!

"No. They can't." One of the scientists bust in. I believe his name was Desbone, Desmen, no Desmond. "They will be otherwise occupied. Activate the cloning process."

"Pass!" I called.

"Batcave's crowded enough!" Rob added.

"And get the weapon back in its pod!" Desmond added. I sooo did not like this guy.

"Hey! How come he gets to call Supey an it?" KF protested. That's what? Two times I have to slap him now once I get out of here. Guardian walked over towards Superboy. I mentally hoped that he would fight back. He could take them out!

"Help us." Aqualad implored. Superboy shook Guardian's hand off his shoulder.

"Don't stop thinking now!" Desmond said as a genomorph hopped onto Supey's shoulder. "You're not a real boy. You're a weapon and you belong to me! Well, to Cadmus. Same thing. Get back in you pod!" Yup, great guy we got there. Superboy let himself be led back into the pod, and I had a sinking feeling that whatever happened next would not be good.

Metal arms leapt from the bottom of the pod, and the syringe like ends struck me in the chest, then were electrified. I screamed. I couldn't help it. The pain was overwhelming, and I wanted to black out, to die, anything to stop the unbearable pain… and the feeling of weakness.

Eagle was not weak. Batman would not tolerate weakness in his protégées, and there I was, weak. I was so fired after this. I was so not ready. So weak. Why did I even think for a moment, that I was ready?

The pain-hot, blinding, shocking- unbearable pain continued on for seconds? Minutes? Hours? The pain was so all consuming that I lost track. The only thing keeping me from falling to the bottom of the pod was the stupid handcuffs.

But then it stopped suddenly, and when I looked up, I was shocked to see Superboy holding the door up. I took a few heavy breathes, then activated the lock pick hidden in the glove on my left hand, and slowly began to work on undoing the cuff.

Meanwhile, Superboy had thrown the door somewhere and had pushed the scientists aside when they rushed at him. He was actually going to help us.

"Don't give me orders." He stated, then turned to us.

"You here to help us, or fry us?" KF asked.

"Huh." Was all the clone said, then glared for a second. "Well, since I don't seem to have heat vision, I guess helping you is my only option."

I undid the restraints, and jumped down. Rob and I had coincidentally finished at the same time.

"Thank God Batman isn't here. He'd kill me for taking so long." Rob remarked.

"Seriously? That's what your worried about? The whole League will have our heads after tonight!" KF exclaimed.

"Free Aqualad. I'll get Kid Mouth. Eagle, you hack cameras so we can get out of here." Rob was once again, trying to take control.

"Don't give me orders." Superboy muttered, but did as he said.

"Ditto." I muttered.

A few seconds later, the other two were out, and we all ran towards the elevators.

"You'll never get out of here." Desmond yelled after us, but we ignored him.

"That guy is not whelmed." Rob remarked. "Not whelmed at all."

"What is it with you and this whelmed thing?" KF asked. I turned, and saw my brother throw Batarangs at each of the pods that held our DNA, rendering it useless. Good. We continued on.

"We're still 42 levels underground. But if we can make it to the elevator-" Aqualad stopped as we saw the giant elephant genomorphs that had almost crushed KF earlier. We looked behind us. Nothing was coming from that direction, but the dome things on the walls were glowing red. I was willing to bet genomorphs grew inside of them.

We were surrounded. I ran one direction, not really caring where I ended up, just that I didn't become an Eagle-pancake. Superboy took a different approach, and attacked them head on.

"Superboy!" Aqualad yelled. "Your goal is to escape, not to burry ourselves here."

"You want escape?" He yelled, then threw one of the creatures onto another. But, the elevator doors were open, and although the elevator wasn't there, we could make use of the shaft. Rob and I shot our grappling guns up as high as they could go.

Superboy grabbed Aqualad and jumped, but we saw him a few seconds later, hanging from a ledge.

"Superman can fly." He muttered. "Why can't I?"

"Dunno." Kid Mouth put in. "But you can jump huge buildings in one leap. Still pretty cool."

"Guys! This floor has to be our exit!" Rob yelled. An elevator was heading down. If we didn't get out fast, we'd be flattened. Superboy hit the door open, and we all jumped into the hallway just as a downward elevator went by. Genomorphs rushed us from the hallway, and we took off running to a different hallway, KF and Superboy in front.

"Go left!" Superboy yelled. We followed. I had no clue where we were going, and although I knew that trusting the clone might not have been the best idea, I went with it.

"Right!" He yelled. And there was dead end.

"…You led us to a dead end!" I heard KF say as I ran up. I looked up.

"Don't apologize, this is perfect!" Rob said as we saw the air vent.

A few seconds later, the five of us were crawling through the air vents behind Rob, who had downloaded the blueprints of the building in the first five minutes we were in there.

"At this rate, we'll never get out!" Kid Flash complained, again.

"Sh. Listen." Superboy instructed. I didn't hear anything, but that's probably cuz I don't have super hearing. We climbed out the vents.

"Wait!" I called after them, pulling up the holo-computer in my glove. They turned, and I looked back at them, a devious grin on my face. "I hacked the motion sensors!" I sang.

"Sweet!" KF said.

"Still plenty of space between us and out." Robin pointed out.

"But I finally got room to move!" the speedster then took off through the emergency staircases, way ahead of everyone else. The rest of us took off after him.

Although I do live in Gotham, and stairs are a regular occurrence, I do not recommend trying to run up 15 flights of them, especially for people who were not trained by Batman. The only perk was the Kid had taken out all of the genomorphs that were on the stairwell, leaving a clear path for the rest of us.

"There's more behind us!" Rob yelled. A few seconds later, I heard a crash, and when I looked down, saw a section of staircase missing, courtesy of Superboy. But I kept on running.

We were cut off. KF was on the ground. It looked like he had run into the wall.

"We're cut off from the street." Aqualad stated.

"Thanks. My head hadn't noticed." Sarcasm dripped out of Kid Flash's voice. Superboy and Aqualad were trying and failing to open the door. Rob and I had our holo-computers out.

"It'll take too long to hack!" I could hear the heavy footsteps of the genomorphs behind us. We were trapped, and doomed.

"This way!" Rob kicked open a side door, and we all ran in. Anything was better than being trampled. But all we ran into were more genomorphs. We were completely cut off. There was no way out.

We had made it this far. So close, yet so far. It didn't matter that we were only one level below the surface, chances were we would never see the sun or moon again.

I crumpled to the ground, although I wasn't even sure why I fell, I just did. I felt as though all the energy had been drained out of me. I lost track of my thoughts, and then there was just blankness.

But then it all came back. And I stood.

"Go." Guardian said. "I'll take care of Desmond."

"I think not." Oh, speak of the devil. "Project Blockbuster shall give me the power to restore order to Cadmus." And then he emptied the glowing blue vial.

He groaned, then leaned backwards. His glasses fell off. He grew, muscles bulging, clothes ripping, becoming more grotesque by the second. His features changed from those of a human, to those of a monster.

"Everyone, back!" Guardian ordered, then charged the beast that was-is Desmond. It was a suicidal fight, that I knew, but we let him lose. Then Superboy charged him, jumping up and punching him in what I just kind of assumed was the face. The beast landed a blow on Superboy, knocking him to the ground. But the clone got right back up, and jumped back at him, the beast jumping at him, and they both burst through the ceiling.

"Okay, I guess that's one way to get us out of here." I stated, then shot my grappling gun at the hole and let it carry me up back to ground level.

"You think lab coat planned that?" Kid Flash asked.

"I doubt he is planning anything anymore." Aqualad replied.

I jumped through the hole, and crouched in a battle ready position. Good thing I did, because a few seconds later, Superboy came flying at us. We ducked, then ran over and helped him up. Together. As a team.

The beast growled, then charged. KF ran straight at him, then ran under his feet. Superboy and Aqualad jumped him, and KF grabbed his foot, sending him tumbling.

"Learned that one in kindergarten." The speedster remarked. Rob and I flipped over his head and threw exploding batarangs at the thing. The thing retaliated, grabbing Superboy and pushing him into one of the many columns, cracking it, then punching again where Supe's head would be.

Thank god he ducked.

Aqualad used his water bearers to grab the beast's arms, then vault over the thing and hit it on the head, giving Superboy a chance to escape its clutches. But the plan backfired, and Aqualad was thrown to the ground, and Superboy into another column.

KF ran at the beast, who grabbed him, but Aqualad used his water bearers to create some sort of weapon and land a hit. But a few seconds later, both were thrown to the wall. The beast charged Aqualad, pushing him clear through a column, causing rocks to fall from above. I looked up.

"Of course!" My brother and I spoke at the same time, and I ran over to where he had pulled up the structural concept of the building.

"KF, get over here!" I called. He ran over, and we explained what we hoped to do, while Aqualad and Superboy engaged the creature.

"Destroy the support beams, and the building will fall on the thing." Rob explained.

"Got it?" I asked.

"Got it." KF replied, then sped off. The speedster leapt at the creature, which was holding Superboy above its head, and grabbed a flap of skin. Shocked, the speedster tumbled, and fell to the ground, but stood milliseconds later.

"Got your nose!" KF exclaimed. If I wasn't freaking out about the plan, I would have laughed, but I turned to Rob and looked over the blueprints. Only a few things left before we could take it down.

"Superboy! Aqualad!" We ran over to them, the plan displayed. They nodded in understanding.

"Come and get me you incredible bulk!" KF screamed. That's the best he can do? You'd think that since everything seemed slower to him, he'd be able to come up with better taunts. But it did the trick, and another pillar was down.

"This one, and that one!" Rob yelled, and he pulled out exploding batarangs to take down the third pillar, while Superboy and Aqualad took down one each. I drew an X on the floor with chalk, and Aqualad controlled the water so that KF slipped right beside it. Superboy went in for another attack, and the thing fell on the water covered X, where Aqualad was waiting.

The Atlantean electrified the water, and the beast glowed with electricity.

"Move!" We ran away from the building, as the Batarangs flashed, signaling they were about to explode.

The ceiling fell first, then the rest of the building collapsed around and on us. Superboy tackled Rob and I, while Aqualad protected KF. I could hear- and feel- the whole upper part of Cadmus collapsing, falling to the ground like wax on a hot day.

Superboy pushed off the piece of ceiling that had fallen on us, and we stood in the dust of what was once Cadmus. It was truly a sight to see; we had totaled the entire building. Whoops. Karma; you create illegal species and make them your slaves, and we take down your building. Parts of my uniform were ripped, and my cape looked like the bottom half of it had been shoved into a shredder. But I felt as if I had conquered the world.

"We did it." Aqualad said, completely out of breath.

"Was there every any doubt?" Rob asked. I smiled, and high fived KF and my brother. And then we all grimaced from our injuries. Oops. I was both laughing and breathing hard, which was not a fun combination, but it was so worth it. We had beaten the odds.

"See?" Kid Flash said, "The moon." We all looked up at the huge full moon that illuminated the sky. A speck was flying across it, and it got bigger, until I could make out the shape of a person flying with a cape. Superman. "And Superman. Do we keep our promises, or what?"

Superboy looked awestruck, and I didn't blame him. Meeting Superman was huge. Not everyone got to do it, most people didn't.

He landed, and I saw the rest of the Leaguers who could fly behind him. Shit. Then Batman and the others stepped off of the platform one of the Green Lanterns had made. Double shit. We were so busted.

Superboy stepped forwards, and I was grateful for his courage. He held up the ripped part of his uniform, revealing the S symbol that was synonymous with Superman. The Man of Steel looked shocked, not that I really blamed him.

"Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked, his voice showing no hint of surprise or anything. Maybe he did know about it…

"He doesn't like being called an it…" I was shocked by KF's bluntness. Not many spoke like that around Batman, usually just Rob and I.

"I'm Superman's clone." Superboy said, contempt clear in his voice. I pitied him, although I knew he wouldn't want pity, so stayed quiet.

"Start talking." Batman commanded. Well, some things never change.

Superboy explained his story, and then a few Leaguers took the deformed Desmond somewhere, I didn't bother asking. The others huddled together, obviously discussing something. The five of us stayed together, silent, until Superman walked over and addressed Superboy.

"We'll figure something out." He started. "I mean, the League will. For now, I better make sure they get the Blockbuster creature stored away." Lame excuse, and I could tell it hurt Superboy.

"Cadmus will be investigated." Batman stated as he, along with Aquaman and Flash, walked over to us. "All 52 levels. But for now, let's make one thing clear."

"You should have called." Flash stated, annoyed.

"End results aside, we are not happy. You hacked the Justice League's systems, disobeyed direct orders, and endangered lives." Shit, he's so not whelmed. "You will not be doing this again." Oh, but we will.

"I'm sorry." Aqualad stated, "But we will."

"Aqualad, stand down." Aquaman ordered.

"Apologies my King, but no." Go Aqualad! If we weren't in such a serious situation, I so would have hugged him. "We did good work here tonight. The work you trained us to do. Together, on our own, we forged something powerful, important."

"If this is about your treatment at the hall, the four of you-"

"The five of us." Kid Flash corrected, standing up to his mentor. "And it's not."

"Batman, we're ready use what you've taught us." Robin said, stepping forward.

"Or why teach us at all?" I spoke quietly, and stood behind my brother. The three JL members stared us down.

"Why let them tell us what to do?" Superboy asked, still clearly angry. "It's simple: get on board, or get out of the way." The five of us turned, and stared them down. They would let us continue on like this, or we would leave. Batman's eyes narrowed, and he glared at us.

"We shall decide in three days." He turned, and then spoke of his shoulder. "Eagle, Robin, it's time to go."

I muttered goodbyes to my new friends, and then walked after Batman with my brother. I climbed into the Batmobile after my brother, and sat in the passenger seat, silently wishing I was stuck in the back again.

The first part of our two hour ride back to Gotham were spent in silence. I didn't dare talk, I knew that Bats was brooding and it was best to let him be quiet or he'd probably get even madder. So I stayed in my thoughts.

Truthfully, I was surprised at how easy it was to adapt to working as a team, and how fast we had changed our styles to match the others. Batman had said that working with someone who you barely knew was very hard, and we had figured it out in less than six hours! Although we did have some minor slip ups, overall, we did well. And I was a bit annoyed that Bats didn't see that.

I get that he must have been worried, and I get that we probably should have called the League, but we proved to the League and to ourselves, that we were not to be underestimated. Sure, we were the younger partners, but we could get the job done just as well or better. We had used what we had learned and applied it, without our mentors staring over our shoulder making sure we weren't messing up.

"I am incredibly disappointed in you two. You disobeyed direct orders and one of you hacked the League computers." He switched the car onto auto pilot, then looked at Rob and I in turn.

"I did it. Gotta take credit for my work, I guess."

"Eagle. You know better than hacking just for curiosity."

"It's the same system as in the Batcave! It was taunting me!" I paused. "And if it makes you feel better, I did it in under two minutes…"

"That makes me feel worse. Emma, you know better." If he hadn't been in this bad of a mood, I would have chastised him for his use of our real ID, like he did to us. Not now though.

"Bats. IDs." My brother had the guts though.

"I'm not in the mood Robin. And don't think you aren't in trouble either."

"But I didn't hack the JL systems!" Oh yeah, thanks bro. So now it's all my fault.

"Yeah? Well I didn't send the elevator down instead of up." I countered.

"Well I didn't have a mini panic attack in an enclosed space."

"Well I didn't come up with the plan that sent the building falling on top of us!"

"It worked!"

"We nearly died!"

"We would have been fine!"

"Yeah, and in caskets!"

"Quiet! Both of you! I am extremely frustrated right now and I have half a mind to call the League and say that you two will have no place in whatever we decide to do with the others!"

"I'd go anyway." I said quietly.

"And I'd go with her." Rob agreed.

"Grounded. Both of you. No patrol, no electronics, nothing for three days."He paused for a second, and made what he said next even more menacing. "And if I find out that you snuck out to meet with the others, your punishment will be much more severe."

"Oh, so you're telling us not to get caught?" I asked. I really didn't care if I annoyed him, it was fun at times, you just had to know when to stop. And since we were already busted, we could go as far as we wanted.

"Cuz it's not like the baddies are gonna go easy on you just cuz we're not there."

And Batman smartly didn't respond, causing Rob and I to spend the rest of the car ride home in silence.

Gotham City; July 5th, 13:00

I was back on the roof, once again trying to write my essay. And failing. Why write about the Magna Carta when I had proved that I was worth something?

I still had my laptop, but it was locked down so I could only get onto pre-approved websites that were deemed educational and to my documents. If I tried to get to another website, I would be kicked off of the wifi for a half hour. If I tried to hack it, an alert would be sent to Bruce's phone or to his communicator. I had tried and failed to hack around that last time I was grounded, and it didn't end well.

But thankfully, Bruce had forgotten iTunes. Or taken pity on my because he knew that I was easily aggravated if I didn't have my music. I'm the kind of person who always has headphones in their pockets. Sometimes, I think that music is the only thing keeping me sane.

That and writing. I keep a journal in a hidden drawer in my wall that's locked. I think Bruce and Alfred know about it, but my brother doesn't. I store the most important things in there: my journals, my mother's jewelry, and a picture of me and my parents taken right before they died. If I had those things, no matter where I was, I would be alright.

I climbed back into my room, there was no way I'd be able to focus enough to finish it. I wanted to text Wally really badly to compare punishments, complain about said punishments, and just chat really. He knew my secret ID, and I knew his. We were friends, in and out of uniform.

But there was no way I was getting my phone back anytime soon. Bruce was still pretty annoyed with us, and although Alfred had said we had done well, he still thought it was bad that we disobeyed orders. I was grounded, and in Wayne Manor, grounded meant no nothing. And since Dick and I were almost always grounded at the same time, it meant no special privileges for each of us. So even though I had talked to Babs about possibly hanging out today, I wasn't allowed to. I could have risked sneaking out, but I would have gotten caught.

I sighed, and grabbed a book, resigned to spending the rest of the day in boredom.

Gotham City, July 6th, 10:00 EDT

Sweat dripped from my brow into my eyes, and I wiped it away. I was training, way harder than usual, but it was definitely helping. It was therapy in a way, since I pretended I was punching whoever I was annoyed with, namely Bruce.

He still hadn't decided, nor had he given Dick or I back any of our normal privileges. I felt lazy not patrolling the city at night, so I trained, mainly working on upping my physical strength, a field where I definitely needed improvement. Criminals too easily over powered me, meaning I had to resort to flipping around to get a few surprise hits in. It worked, but it took way more energy than it needed to, and quite a bit more time.

Plus, I was determined to beat my brother. He had taken to lifting weights every day, and I was following the trend. Dick could bench press 100lbs, and I could still barely do 80. Although I knew it was easier for boys to do stuff like that, I thrived on the 'friendly' competition. It kept us on our toes, and made our arguments interesting, as we both completely over exaggerated what we could do.

I remember one time we had this ongoing argument about who could run 100 m the fastest. I had said I was doing it under three, and Dick had proclaimed he was doing it under two. Neither of us had timed the other, and we didn't exactly have a track where 100m was marked, so it was a lot of guess work. After we had been yelling for about 20 minutes, Bruce bust in and said that we both could do it in barely under six and to quiet down. Alfred finished making a batch of cookies about five minutes later, and it was like the argument had never happened.

Dick and I had been like that for as long as I could remember. I can't really remember how it started, or who started it, but one of my earliest memories was arguing with Dick about who could do the most cartwheels in a row. We were four.

It even carried over into heroing. If one of us could take down a goon in under a minute, the other had to do it in under 30 seconds. Bats encouraged it, which got kind of annoying because my brother won most of the time and I got scolded for making minor mistakes. How he kept on winning, I don't know, but I think that he cheated half the time, and even so, I was always the one who got in trouble for being distracted. Dick in both identities was a goody-goody slash suck up 90% of the time. I was not.

I started punching the bag with more ferocity, not caring that my knuckles weren't wrapped. Stupid Bruce and his perfectionist ways. You break the rules, but you do a job right, and bam, grounded. We weren't little kids! We knew breaking rules was bad at times, but there's a time and place to ignore them. Bruce taught us that too. He had told us that at times, rules were meant to be broken. He had also told us that at times authoritive figures could be ignored. I guess that didn't include him.

It had been time to ignore them. It had been time to prove that we weren't little kids who's hands needed to be held. Cuz I'm pretty sure our mentors still saw us that way. I was glad we snuck out. I had proven that I could create strategies and carry them out. I had proven that I could work with a team. I had also proven, in a way, that even though I was the only girl I could keep up with the guys. I was not the weak link. I was the one who hacked the security so we got in! Not my brother, who relied on his bypasses all of the time.

I stopped, completely out of breath. It was then I noticed the stinging from my beaten, bloody, knuckles. I sighed, and walked over to the medicine cabinet, where I grabbed the antiseptic and two wrap around band-aids. I rinsed my hands off, then poured the antiseptic over my cuts. It stung like hell, and I was soon cursing under my breath as I had stupidly poured it on the other hand as well.

"You okay down there?"

"Oh, you know, lost a game of bloody knuckles to the punching bag. Same old, same old." I replied sarcastically.

"Emma."

"Bruce."

"You shouldn't be doing that. You're still covered with injuries from Cadmus."

"Yeah, minor stuff. They'll be gone within the week. No biggie."

"Still, you shouldn't be exerting yourself. Follow your brother's example and read."

"I said they were no big deal. I'm not a kid anymore, I don't need you looking over my shoulder 24/7."

"Emma," He began, "I know it was hard for you to understand that you were punished for breaking the rules, even though you did the right thing. It's just that we could have lost you down there. You said yourself in the debrief that they were planning on cloning you, then killing you. We wouldn't have known. And what if that Blockbuster creature had killed you?

"I know it's hard to understand, but Emma, there comes a point where we have to draw a line. I know you want more freedom, and to be able to interact with the other heroes your age, but it's not that simple. All of you, especially you and your brother, have civilian identities to uphold. You are in the spot light just because you're the ward of a billionaire, and wards of billionaires can't just disappear without a reasonable explanation. Also, we can't just let you run wild. Someone needs to know where you are at all times, and be able to contact you. If something like Cadmus happens again, you could die Emma. You could die and we wouldn't know how it happened or who did it. We might not even find a body to bury. That's why you can't go running off. Not because you're not ready for a little bit more responsibility, or because you haven't proven yourself, but because we want to keep you guys alive, and not have to bury you before you're 50."

"I get that, but still! KF and Aqualad seemed surprised when I could do all of the stuff Dick could, and sometimes do the stuff better than he could! I'm not a little girl. I know what I'm doing, yet they refused to see it! I just felt to weak, so underestimated.

"Bruce, there has to be some way that I can prove to them that I am good enough. Hell, half the time I don't think you think I'm good enough! I'm always the one that gets yelled at! I'm always the one who gets scolded for making the smallest mistakes! Dick gets away with almost everything! I'm willing to bet he cut a section out of a book, put his iPod in there, and is playing on it, not reading. If I was doing that, you'd be up there in a second."

"I'm harder on you Emma because I know you can do better. Your brother motivates himself, mostly by competing with you. But you're too competitive for your own good at times, and that gets you in trouble. The little things make a difference, you should know that by now. Emma, sometimes you are too tough on yourself for your own good. You push yourself too far, and there have been many times when I've wanted to bench you because you push yourself too hard.

"There are always going to be things Dick is going to be better than you at. There are always going to be things you are better than Dick at. But Emma, you two should not be competing for my praise. I know I don't focus on certain things as much as I should, but I know that the two of you are going to do better things one day than what I have ever done. Taking the two of you in was probably the best decision I've ever made.

"You are not weak Emma. You are one of the strongest people I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. Remember that." And he turned and walked out, leaving me standing on the gym floor, with a half on, half off band aid hanging from my left hand.

Mount Justice; July 8th; 8:04 EDT

"This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League." Batman said, "But we're calling it into service again, since you five are determined to stay together and to fight the good fight you'll do it on League terms." As always.

The five of us were assembled in civilian clothes, Rob and I sporting dark sunglasses, as we met for a second time. The mentors had agreed to let us work as a team, and I was ecstatic.

"Red Tornado has volunteered to stay here as a permanent supervisor. Black Canary will head your training. And I will deploy you on missions."

"Real missions?" I asked. If they stuck us with the kiddie stuff, I was so going solo, no matter what Bats said.

"Covert missions." Batman classified.

"The League will still handle the obvious stuff." Flash explained. "There's a reason we have big targets on our chests."

"But the bad guys are getting smarter." Aquaman elaborated. "Cadmus proved that. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly."

"The six of you will be that team." Wait, six? There were five of us.

"Cool." Robin exclaimed. We were good at this covert stuff already. "Wait, six?" We turned as we heard footsteps behind us. A girl with green skin and long red hair, obviously a Martian, was walking up to us next to Martian Manhunter.

"This is Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian."

"Hi." She said simply, raising her hand in greeting. Sweet, I wouldn't be the only girl! I got along with guys most of the time, but it's always nice to have another girl.

"Likin this more every minute." KF said. Ugh, not this flirty thing again. He tried it on me for a while. I ended up slapping him once every five minutes. "I'm Kid Flash, that's Robin, Eagle, Aqualad, and Superboy."

"I'm honored to be included." We walked over, to start a conversation, but Supes stayed behind.

"Hey Superboy!" I called. "Come meet Miss M." Miss Martian changed her shirt from white to black, and I was suddenly jealous. I wished my clothes could change colors! That would be totally awesome!

"I like your tee shirt." She said to him. Those two would be a couple some day, I was willing to bet on it. He smiled, and we walked over to join them.

"Today is the day." Aqualad said, and I smirked. It certainly was.

**AN: Thank you to everyone who's read, followed, favorited and reviewed!**


	3. Chapter 3

Lone Eagle Chapter 3

Welcome to Happy Harbor

Star City; July 17th, 23:16 PDT

I lay in wait above the docks in Star City, watching as two men grabbed things from one of the crates. But then they fell, and I was instantly confused as to what happened until I saw someone else. It was another man, huge with an awkward hairstyle, shooting a type of gun that I had never seen before. It appeared to shoot energy pulses.

But that man was pushed backwards when an explosive arrow landed right in front of him.

"You again! I'm a bit insulted that Green Arrow isn't personally messing up my operation." The man then shot at my red haired friend, who jumped from beam to beam, effortlessly dodging. I drew a batarang. Better safe than sorry.

Speedy, Roy, whatever he went by now, shot an arrow that directly hit the man, breaking his gun and ripping his suit.

"Do you know what I paid for a suit in my size?" he yelled. "Get him boys." That was when we sprung into action, KF running through the men while Rob and I threw batarangs at their guns, effectively disarming them.

I let out a cackle from where I stood, perched on the roof of a single story warehouse. I could easily get down if I needed to, but for the moment I stayed in place, watching the battle and making sure the goons couldn't do anything too crazy or stupid that would hurt my friends.

The big guy grabbed a boulder from somewhere- was it just a chunk of cement he ripped out of the ground?- and threw it at the ginger archer, who ran and got a shot in with an exploding arrow. I've seen those things in action, they work the same way as the exploding batarangs, but it had little to no effect on the man. That was not a good sign. The explosives should be strong enough to launch a person weighing over 300 lbs about 6ft backwards, and this guy barely moved.

Aqualad broke the flying boulder in half.

"The Cave has everything the Team would need."

"For covert operations." I added, swinging to where the other two stood, Rob following my lead and heading over.

"You know, spy stuff." Rob added on.

"And wait till you see Superboy and Miss Martian." KF said excitedly as he successfully ran up the wall. "But I saw her first!" I rolled my eyes under my mask. If we weren't in such a visible spot, I would have slapped KF for his idiocy.

A boulder came flying at us, and we split up, Rob and I running to one side, KF running down, and Speedy to another, while Aqualad once again sliced the boulder like it was cheese. That reminds me, I need food… Speedy shot three exploded arrows at the man, and it still didn't do him much harm! Something was seriously off with this dude.

"Tell Arrow he shouldn't send boys to do a man's job!" he called. Speedy drew an arrow- I couldn't tell what type from my position- and waited. "Go ahead." The man said, inviting the shot. Speedy let it fly, and at first it didn't seem to do much, but then it exploded into a pink cloud of gas.

KF ran over and said something to his fellow ginger, who turned away and ignored him. Harsh. The four of us- KF, Speedy, Rob, and I- were pretty close. We had been friends for about 3 years now, forced to spend time together while our mentors were off doing missions, and although we did argue a lot from time to time, we usually got on pretty well.

Speedy was the eldest, and acted like it. He approved our schemes, and at times added his own. He wasn't as mischievous as the rest of us, but he was pretty good with pranking. Not to mention, at times he acted like an over protective older brother. KF was the goof ball, the one who came up with the crazy ideas that always got us busted. But they were totally worth it. Not to mention, he had come up with the basic formula for the stuff in the arrow that Roy had shot a year ago. Rob was KF's go to partner in crime, and the one you went to if you needed something. He was the comforter, and the wise one when he wanted to be, but most of the time he was super immature.

And I? I was the quiet one, the one that they all felt the need to protect. I don't know if it's cuz I'm the only girl, or the youngest- even though it's only by 10 minutes- but I'm the one they protect. I'm the computer whiz, I hack, set up programs, beat levels on video games of any kind. I'm the one who goes to one of the others to vent, because if I keep my emotions pent up for too long, I'll end up exploding at someone, which usually does more bad than good.

Which is why I was so annoyed with Speedy right now. He was being downright rude to KF, who he considered his little brother. I would so be yelling at him for it later.

"So Speedy, you in?" Rob asked. We were trying to convince Speedy to join us on the Team, as we were referred to.

"Pass." That was my line! "I'm done with Arrow and the League telling me what to do. I don't need a babysitter, or a clubhouse hang out with the other kids! Your Junior Justice League is a joke. Something to keep you busy and in your place." He turned and stalked off, leaving the rest of us staring back at him in silence. I was going to kill that kid one day! "I don't want any part of it."

Mount Justice; July 18th, 11:16 EDT

"Recognized: Robin, B01; Eagle, B02; Kid Flash, B04." The computer chimed as we made our way to the Cave with Wally in our civvies. Rob and I wore dark sunglasses, and I wanted nothing more than to throw my favorite black Ray Bans across the room and scream that I was Emmeline Grayson, call me Emma, and if you tell anyone outside of here I will have to strangle you.

Like that would ever happen without Batman strangling me.

We ran over to the mission briefing floor, where the others were already gathered.

"Did you ask him?"

"What did he say?" Robin and KF asked in quick secession. I stayed quiet, I would get answers to my questions soon enough. Anyway, why say anything repetitive or that makes you sound stupid, when you could be quiet? It is better to stay quiet and be thought an idiot, then to speak and remove all doubt. That saying was so true. If KF never opened his mouth to say stupid things, I would think he was a genius!

"He is arriving now." Aqualad replied.

"Then what are we waiting for?" KF took off at a normal human jog, and we all followed, Rob jogging after him, while Miss M, Aqualad, Superboy, and I all walked, not in that big of a hurry. Yeah, we wanted something to do, but if Red Tornado actually had a mission for us, he would tell all of us at once.

The hangar door opened, and we walked onto the ramp as Red Tornado flew in. Rob, KF, and Aqualad went out to meet him, but I leaned against the doorway nonchalantly. My favorite black skinny jeans were hotter than usual in the sun, and I did not want to overheat. The July sun was hot, even so far north, but as the android landed, I made my way over to stand with the rest of the team.

"Red Tornado!" KF waved. Again, with the quiet thinking you're an idiot, speaking proving you're one thing.

"Greetings. Is there any reason you intercepted me outside the Cave?"

"We were wondering if you had any missions for us." Aqualad stated.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's job." KF immediately looked to Rob and I, silently asking us if we knew anything. We didn't, obviously. Bats had made it very clear that if we hacked something we weren't supposed to again, we would be suspended from the Team for a month or longer.

"But it's been over a week and-"Red Tornado held up a hand, silencing my brother.

"You will be tested soon enough." Tested? I thought we passed the test. We had been allowed to form this team. Wasn't that enough? Or were they going to test us individually, to make sure we were good enough?

As I looked around, I realized Rob and I were the only ones that specialized in the same thing. If it came down to a test, what if they kicked one of us off? What if they decided we weren't good enough? I realized that Batman wouldn't let that happen, but even then, a small voice in my head whispered that I was weak, and that my brother was better.

"For the time being, simply enjoy each other's company."

"This team is not a social club."

"No. But I am told that social interaction is an important team building exercise. Perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourself with the Cave." And with that, he walked off, leaving the six of us standing outside.

"I could have told you we wouldn't be getting anything." I muttered.

"Keep busy." KF muttered angrily, punching my brother.

"Does he think we're falling for this?" Rob asked.

"Oh! I can find out!" Miss M said, then turned. I was confused for a moment, but then I remembered: telepathy. "Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot he was a machine. Inorganic. I cannot read his mind." She stuttered a bit, and I felt for her. It probably wasn't her first language, and English was complicated. It was my second language, and although I knew the rules well enough to please my teachers, sometimes it just didn't make sense.

"Nice try though. So, uh, you know what I'm thinking right now?" KF was oh so smoothly (NOT!) getting up in her face.

"We all know what you're thinking now." And I kicked him in the shins.

"Ow." He glared at me for a second.

"And now, we tour the clubhouse." Aqualad said, sounding annoyed.

"Well, Superboy and I live here."Miss M seemed pretty shy for now. Probably still adjusting. "We can play tour guides."

"Don't look at me." Superboy said, and I smirked. I could have seen that coming.

"Oh, we won't." I hoped my sunglasses didn't block the bat glare I was sending at Wally right now. "A private tour sounds much more fun."

"She never said private tour!" Rob pointed out, and I laughed silently at the antics of the two boys.

"Team building. We'll all go." Aqualad spoke with authority, and I realized with a jolt that if for whatever reason, Rob or I wasn't put in charge, Aqualad would make a pretty darn good leader. But I stayed silent on that end for now, I knew Rob and KF both wanted that position, and would be vocal about it. I wanted it as well, but I knew that I would be fighting a losing battle. My brother was a much better suited for a leadership posistion, and I would not enjoy losing to him. It would be rubbed in my face for weeks.

Miss M led the way inside, explaining that the hangar would be considered our 'front door' and we all followed her as she walked us through the former JL headquarters. She sure knew the history of this place. As soon as we were led to the hangar overlooking the ocean, or the 'back door' I knew I had found a new perch. At home, mine was on the roof right outside my window, but it was sometimes a bit inconvenient because Bats knew exactly where it was. Here, I would at least have a week or two before he figured it out. I hoped.

"I smell smoke." Superboy remarked as we stood over the pool that contained an entrance to the ocean.

"My cookies!" Miss M sounded distraught as she flew towards what I assumed must be the kitchen, the rest of us following behind. When we got there, we saw a disappointed Miss M staring at a batch of cookies burnt so badly they looked like raw carbon.

"I was trying out Grammy Jones' recipe from episode 17 of…" She trailed off. "Never mind!"

"I bet they would have tasted great." Robin encouraged her. "He doesn't seem to mind." KF was munching on the rock like cookies. Crazy kid. I couldn't believe I was actually friends with him.

"I have a serious metabolism." He explained, shoving more in his mouth. I rolled my eyes at him. No duh.

"I'll make more." It was more of a question than a statement on Miss M's part, but she sounded a bit happier.

"It was sweet of you to make any." Aqualad said.

"Thanks Aqualad."

"We're off duty. Call me Kaldur'ahm. Actually, my friends call me Kaldur."

"I'm Wally." He sounded as if he was trying to flirt. "See, I already trust you with my secret ID. Unlike the dark glasses over here. Batman's forbidden the Wonders from telling anyone their real name." As if. He knew it! But it had taken tons of convincing and puppy dog eyes. I mouthed 'You suck' to Wally. He faked an offended look, and I just kept on smirking.

"My name's no secret. M'gann M'orzz. But you can call me Megan. It's an earth name. And I'm on earth now."

"Get out of my head!" Superboy yelled.

_What's wrong?_ Megan's voice sounded in my head. _Everyone on Mars communicates telepathically._ I was getting a splitting headache, nearly migraine level.

"M'gann. Stop." Aqualad commanded. "Things are different on Earth. Here, your powers are an extreme invasion of privacy."

"Besides," Wally went on, "Cadmus's creepy little psychic g-nomes left a bad impression in his brain." He said, gesturing to Superboy. M'gann looked shocked.

"I-I didn't mean to." She was obviously sorry, and I felt bad for her. She had never been on Earth before, and didn't know how things worked.

"Just stay out." Superboy growled, then walked away.

"Hello Megan!" She said. "I know what we can do!" And she flew off, leaving the rest of us behind her, slightly confused, but we followed.

She led us into the elevator and to the hangar, where she seemed proud to show us what looked like a red blob.

"It's my martain bio-ship!" M'gann said proudly. It didn't look like much now, but I was willing to bet it could change shape.

"Cute." Wally said, as if trying to impress her. "Not aerodynamic, but cute."

"It's at rest silly. I'll wake it." She held out her hand and it morphed, becoming a red winged plane, and she opened the back hatch. "Well, are you coming?" We followed her in, and watched as if formed six seats, one for each of us. Once we sat down, the material molded to form a seatbelt.

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors."

And we flew out of the Cave, soaring over the ocean and the hillsides near Happy Harbor. It really was a beautiful place, and I loved the feeling of flying. It made me feel free.

"Incredible!" Rob said. I knew that he too felt at home flying. Being above the ground was in our blood, we were used to it.

"She sure is…" Wally said, obviously thinking about M'gann. "I mean, the ship. Like all ships is a she." He hastily corrected himself.

"Fast with the feet, not so much with his mouth. Or his brain." I countered.

"Dude! Not cool!" Wally exclaimed. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"I only speak the truth." I countered. He stayed silent, obviously not able to think of a good retort, and I contented myself with staring out the window as we flew over Happy Harbor.

"He'll come around." Rob said to M'gann, obviously talking about Superboy.

"You guys remember he has super hearing, right?" Wally pointed out. I shook my head in annoyance. Never know when someone could be listening to what you say. If you're going to talk about someone, do it in a place where you're for sure alone, or where there are so many people talking that it would be impossible for them to hear you. The Bio-Ship was neither of those, although I guess if I needed to tell Rob something urgent, I could speak in Romanian. I was pretty sure no one else knew the language.

"How about showing us a little Martian shape shifting?" Rob asked, ever the conversationalist. M'gann concentrated for a few seconds, then turned into each of us in turn. She did me first, and it was pretty darn accurate, and a bit creepy. Then she did Robin, who looked like him but girlier, and the same with KF.

"Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" Wally said.

"If you weren't on the other side of this ship, I would slap you." I said.

"You couldn't catch me!"

"We'll see about that." I muttered.

"Impressive!" Rob continued on, ignoring the banter between Wally and I. "But you know you're not exactly going to fool anyone with those."

"Mimicking boys is a lot harder." She explained.

"And your clothes." Kaldur said, obviously wanting an explanation.

"They're organic, like the ship. They respond to my mental commands."

"As long as they're the only ones." Way to be a downer Supes.

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing that Manhunter does?" Wally asked.

"Density shifting? No. It's a very advanced technique." M'gann sounded a bit disappointed, and I knew how she felt. There were things Bats could do that I probably could, he just wouldn't teach me. Like advanced hacking. For that stuff, we just had to hope that our bypasses worked.

"Flash can vibrate his molecules through walls. When he tries it," Rob gestured to Wally, "bloody nose." We laughed a bit at his expense, but kept it light.

"Dude!" Wally replied, annoyed once again.

"Here's something I can do though." M'gann paused dramatically. "Camouflage mode." The ship changed from bright red to blending in with its surroundings. It wasn't invisible, but it was pretty darn close.

"Red Tornado to Miss Martian. An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor Power Plant. I suggest you investigate. Covertly. I'm sending coordinates." This was more like it. A test! To prove that yes, we could work together.

"Received." M'gann responded. "Adjusting course."

"Tornado's keeping us busy." Rob sounded completely put off, but I wasn't sure if this was as simple as he thought it would be. M'gann obviously thought the same.

"Well, a simple fire led you to Superboy. We should find out what caused the alert."

"I think I know the cause." Superboy said, and we all looked out the window. A giant tornado was in the parking lot. You don't get tornados in Happy Harbor. The climate is completely wrong, and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. No, this tornado was manmade.

It advanced towards the bio-ship. M'gann put even more focus on the controls. I was suddenly glad for the seatbelts as it moved straight at us, and we were caught in the wind of the tornado. Not a great omen.

We were spinning around, completely out of control and at the mercy of the winds. M'gann looked like she was in pain, probably because she was telepathically in control of the ship. I kept my cool, and just made sure I stayed in my seat. I did _not_ want to fly out of my seat or out of the ship. Rob and I try to avoid falling at all costs.

But a few seconds later, we were out of the winds, and facing the tornado. M'gann landed us in the parking lot, and created a whole in the bottom which we jumped out of, onto the pavement.

The tornado was causing havoc at the power plant. People were screaming and running, trying to get away. I looked at Rob, and we ran in to investigate. We ran inside, and let out our cackles, trying to stop the thing. It was vaguely humanoid, but had mechanical things on its ridiculously oversized arms. That was where the wind was coming from. I jumped at him, but he just used the wind to push me back into a column. Rob tried the same, but he was flung right next to me, held in place by the ferocious winds.

Well, only for a few milliseconds. Then we fell to the ground. I grunted, then stood back up, aware of the aching on my right side. I had landed on it, and I knew I was going to have huge bruises covering my arm tomorrow- and that was if nothing worse happened. The others ran in as I propped myself up.

"Who's you're friend?" Superboy asked. Wow, not even a year old and sarcastic already!

"Didn't catch his name, but he plays kinda rough!" Rob responded.

"Yeah, kinda being an understatement." I growled.

"My apologies. You may address me as Mister Twister." He then proceeded to throw mini winds at us. I stayed down on the ground and covered my head. I've had enough concussions in my short life, and they were painful. I was not planning on getting another one any time soon. Superboy had a different idea: he ran straight into the tornadoes, but even he was thrown backwards. I stood up as Supes was thrown into a wall by the wind, leaving a dent. He fell to the ground. Ouch.

KF pulled on his goggles, and Rob staggered to his feet. He had been pushed into the column harder than I had been, but he stood. With a simple nod from Aqualad, we rushed into battle. KF sped towards Mister Twister, but was pushed outside by the winds. Aqualad and Miss M ran up as well, prepared to use their powers to knock him off balance, but they too were thrown back into the building.

"I was prepared to be challenged by a super hero. I was not, however, expecting children." I drew an explosive batarang, but hid it under my sleeve.

"We are not children!" I yelled back, and threw the disk, Rob throwing one at the exact same moment. Mister Twister blew them back a little bit, but the explosions did seem to harm him, but not very much. One lodged itself in a chink in the armor, but it was flicked away.

"Objectively, you are. Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence here quite disturbing."

"Well, we hate to make you disturbed. Let's see if you're more _turbed_ when we win." During our little quote unquote distraction, Miss M, Aqualad, and Superboy had come to stand near Rob and I. Once Rob finished his little rebuttal, Miss M used her powers to break something, causing a smokescreen to fall between us and the machine. Superboy did his super jump thing, attempting to land a hit, but was blown backwards and into Miss M. They both went down hard. Aqualad ran in, and Rob and I followed his lead, but all three of us could not do anything to fight the strong gusts of wind that twirled us around and slammed us into each other. We fell on the cement.

"Indeed. It was quite turbing." And then he flew out. I pick myself up slowly, doing a damage check. I may have cracked a rib, but I wasn't 100% sure, so I decided to act like nothing was super wrong. I pushed myself to my feet, then realized something. KF wasn't there.

"KF's outside!" I called. We all headed out, where we saw him circling Mister Twister. IT was working, until he was caught in a tornado and pushed towards us. He flew right by us, and hit the wall. Miss M stopped his fall before he hit the ground.

"I got you Wally." She said.

"Oh. Thanks." He was obviously shocked.

"I would have thought that you all would have learned your limitations by now."

"What do you want?" Aqualad yelled, completely angry.

"Isn't it obvious?" Mister Twister said mockingly. "I'm waiting for a real hero." He was now levitating above the ground, looking down on us.

"Read his mind." Aqualad told-commanded?- M'gann. "Find a weakness."

"I thought I wasn't supposed to do that!" M'gann replied, clearly confused.

"It's okay with the bad guys!" Rob insisted, sounded frustrated. I didn't blame him. It would take an idiot to see that Aqualad would make an amazing leader. Miss M focused for a second.

"Nothing! I'm getting nothing!" she sounded incredibly confused and frustrated. "Hello Megan! Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise!" I turned to Rob. I wasn't sure about this. I really didn't think he would be taunting us as much, being so… rude. It just didn't seem right. "Guys, he's inorganic. An android. And how many androids can generate tornadoes?"

"Red Tornado sent us here." Aqualad put in.

"After saying we'd be tested soon enough. _This _is his test. Something to keep us busy." Rob added.

"Speedy was right. This is a joke." KF sounded both angry and disappointed. I scowled. If they all believed it was Red Tornado and let their guard down, this team was screwed. It didn't add up anyway. Red Tornado's tornadoes are always red, never brown like normal ones.

The Rob, KF, and Aqualad walked over to where the android floated. I didn't go with them, which seemed to puzzle M'gann and Superboy. If I was right, they were going to get their butts handed to them.

"We know who you are and what you want!" Rob yelled. And so it begins…

"So let's end this." Aqualad finished.

"Consider it ended." He lifted his arms above his head, and from his hands sprung two tornadoes, but they combined and went up instead of down. The sky darkened, and the temperature dropped a few degrees. A huge funnel cloud began to form.

"An impressive show. But we will not indulge you! We will not engage!" Aqualad yelled. Oh shit, this was so not going well. So not feeling the aster.

"Uh guys?" Wally asked, sounded scared as lightning crackled in the sky. "Can Red Tornado do that?"

"You think I'm Red Tornado?" The android laughed. I was right. "Ironic." But before I could come up with a play off of irony, I was blasted off my feet. The last thing I remembered was the feeling of weightlessness, and the jarring of impact. Then, it was black.

The next thing I knew, Wally was asking what happened. I was on my back in the grass, the sky was blue again.

"I placed the Bio-Ship between us." M'gann explained. Superboy punched a rock as I slowly moved into a crouch. I winched as I bent over, not a great sign.

"And that's supposed to make it right?" Supes was angry. "You tricked us into thinking Twister was Red Tornado."

"She didn't do it on purpose." Aqualad insisted.

"It was a rookie mistake. We shouldn't have listened." Rob added.

"And I should have spoken up." I said quietly. "I was 90% sure it wasn't Red Tornado, but I didn't want to risk it if it was." The other veteran sidekicks- Rob, Aqualad, and KF- looked at me in surprise. "I hack the League when I'm bored and read up on the Leaguers. Learn their strengths and weaknesses in case I have to fight them or something that imitates them."

"You are pretty inexperienced." KF sounded a bit awkward talking to Miss M. "Hit the showers. We'll take it from here."

"Stay out of our way." Superboy added, jogging off. I made to follow, keeping pace with KF who was running at a normal human speed.

"Want a ride?" He asked. I raised one of my eyebrows. "Oh come on _Emma_ don't trust me?" Wally was completely playing off of the fact he was the first person besides Bats that knew our secret IDs.

"I'm rolling my eyes." I said, but hopped on anyway. Being given a piggy back ride by a speedster is not for those with weak stomachs. It's one of the oddest feelings ever, but truth be told, I kind of liked it. We were the first on the rise that overlooked the town of Happy Harbor, except it didn't look that happy.

Tornadoes were creating havoc everywhere; destroying buildings, homes, and even boats. You could hear people's screams from this far away, and I felt slightly sick to my stomach. WE had a chance to stop this, but we didn't. Maybe we weren't ready to work as a team.

At this rate, I didn't know if the team would even exist in a few months.

KF took off again, and next thing I knew, we were next to Mister Twister.

"You got ours! Full and undivided!" KF said, probably in response to something the android had said.

"Let me off now." I whispered.

"Oh. Right." He slowed down to human speed for a few seconds, and I jumped off, reaching into my utility belt as KF jumped at the android.

"Insufficient!" It yelled. "You are a distraction I can no longer tolerate."

"HYAAAA!" Superboy jumped out of the blue and in between Mister Twister and KF. They were battered by two twisters, and I took the opportunity to chuck an explosive disk into the chink in its armor. It was batted away a few seconds later.

Then I realized it. If I could get into its systems, I could shut it down. I took cover behind a car, even though it wouldn't do much, and opened my holo-computer and searched for frequencies. I doubt it was programmed to do this, especially with the way it responded to the things we said. No, someone was controlling it.

Just as I was searching for frequencies, I saw a boat and Superboy flying over towards where I believe Aqualad had landed. I shut down the computer, and unclipped my utility belt from underneath my shirt, and clipped it around my shoulders. I then ran over to where KF and Rob had convened.

"You guys have your utility belts?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"Never leave home without em. First thing Batman taught us." Rob replied. "Where were you E?"

"Trying to hack it. And then I realized this was going to be a violence is golden kind of battle."

_Listen to me._ M'gann's voice sounded inside my head. I cringed. _All of you._ A pause, and I knew Superboy or Aqualad was saying something. _I know! And I know I messed up. But now I'm very clear on what we need to do. Please, trust me._

"Hit the showers." Red Tornado commanded. "I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly, you cannot."

"But we've got a plan now!" Rob protested.

"The subject is not up for debate." We all turned and walked til we were out of sight, then turned. M'gann was killing it as Red Tornado. I mean, not literally, she was losing on purpose but, well, you get it. Mister Twister said something to her as she lay on the ground, and cables grew out of the actual android's fingers, attaching themselves to the shape shifted head.

M'gann pulled the cables, and KF jumped out of the tornado he had created, landing a kick on the android. Superboy jumped in, and punched Mister Twister in the stomach, just as I had suggested he do, knocking out the cables and what I hoped would be the main power source. It was pushed into the water, where Aqualad would do his thing, and when it came up, both of its arms were gone. Rob and I ran closer to where M'gann had levitated it, and we each threw an explosive disk at it.

It fell to the ground, letting off bright blue sparks. But stood for a few seconds, the released someone from the front chamber. But M'gann couldn't read it's mind.

"Foul. I call foul." The man said, shivering on the ground. M'gann walked forwards and she looked mad. She grabbed a giant rock and- shit shit double shit- dropped it on the dude.

"M'gann no!" Aqualad cried. But it was too late.

"I don't know how things are done on Mars," Rob said, getting in M'gann's face, "but here we don't execute our captives!"

"You said you trusted me." She said smugly. Oh, Rob's gonna get it. She lifted the stone to reveal something that wasn't human guts and gore, it was a crushed robot. "That's why I couldn't read its mind."

KF was the first to walk up, and picked up the eyeball. The pupil was green, and looked similar to his in a creepy sort of way. But he didn't seem to mind.

"Cool. Souvenir." Yup, he definitely didn't mind.

"We should have had more faith in you." Aqualad said.

"You rocked this mission!" KF added. "Get it? Rocked?"

"Ignore him." I said.

"We're all just turbed you're on the team." Rob added.

"Thanks. Me too." M'gann smiled, and I smiled too. Ok, maybe we weren't as bad as I had originally thought. We just needed to play to each other's strengths.

Back at the Cave, Aqualad explained what had occured, with each of us adding bits and pieces here or there.

"It was clearly created to sabotage or destroy you." Aqualad said In conclusion.

"Agreed." Red Tornado was studying the pieces of the android that had been manning Mister Twister.

"IS that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann asked.

"No. This was your battle. I do not believe it is my duty to solve your problems for you or have you solve mine for me."

"But if you're in danger…" M'gann trailed off.

"Consider this matter closed." And with that, Red Tornado walked out of the briefing room.

"Batman, Aquaman, and Flash, they'd have jumped right in to fix things." Wally pointed out.

"Guess if we're going to have a babysitter round here, a heartless android is the way to go."

"Rob, harsh."

"And inaccurate. I have a heart, carbon steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing."

"Oh. Right. Sorry. I'll strive to be more accurate." Robin said sheepishly. I slapped him.

"And more respectful." Kal added.

"Speedy was so wrong." Wally said as we headed to the Zeta tubes.

"This team thing might just work out." I responded, before typing in the coordinates of the Batcave's Zeta beam, and the pass code. If I was in uniform, I would have gone to the general Gotham one and just started patrol early, but I wasn't so I had to go to the other Cave. I stepped into the teleporter, waved, then was whisked away.

The Batcave was dark, damp, and creepy. The huge super computer was facing the Zeta beam, so the first thing you saw was it looming over you. The air was cool and the flowing water added another eerie touch to the place.

I absolutely loved it.

I took off my sunglasses and made my way over to the computer. From about a foot behind the chair, I studied what Bruce was doing for a second. Then I got bored. I may be a techie, but updating firewalls was boring.

"Hey Bruce. I'm back. Dick should be here any second." I said, looking up at the screen. "And can you at least try to make it slightly challenging for me? Seriously you're making it too easy." The computer announced Dick's arrival from the Cave.

"Well, do I get a debrief?" Bruce swung his chair around so he was facing us. Dick walked up to stand behind me.

"He's doing it." I spoke quickly because I knew Dick was about to do the same thing. "I'll be upstairs if you guys need me." I jogged up the stairs and opened the secret door behind the clock, shut it, then ran through the hallway and up the main stairway to my room. I jogged through the hallway and opened the second door on the left.

My room was amazing. Three walls were electric blue and one was dark grey. I had a huge window with a window seat that overlooked the backyard and the forest beyond it. My dark wood four poster had a black and blue striped quilt and dark green pillows. My desk was next to the door and I had my own bathroom and walk in closet. It seriously was perfect.

I reached under my bed and grabbed the mini safe where I hid my candy. Alfred and Bruce were against sugar, mainly because Dick would get crazy sugar highs. And since he couldn't have any, I couldn't either. So, I hid my candy in a safe underneath my bed where I also kept my diary. Yes, I write in a diary. Yes, it has a lock on it. But it's not bright pink and glittery, it's dark green with my initials on the front in white with a black lock on the side.

I opened the safe with the code (19-24-54-3) and grabbed a bag of Sour Patch Kids, then grabbed my Mac Book off of my desk and unlocked it. I smiled sadly at my wallpaper, an old poster for the Flying Graysons, and opened up Safari, feeling absolutely okay with mindlessly checking Facebook for a few hours.

But of course it didn't happen that way. Just as I was logging in, my name was called from the intercom in my room. I sighed and got up, hitting the button so Bruce could hear me.

"Where do you want me?" I asked.

"I'll meet you in the gym in five. There's some things we need to work on." I walked into my closet and changed from the black skinny jeans and blue and black striped tee I had been wearing earlier to a plain navy tee and black running shorts. I retied my black Nikes, then headed down to the gym, pulling my hair up as I walked.

"Sup?" I asked as I walked down the stairs leading to the gym.

"I heard about your performance today."

"So?"

"Emma, you need to work on direct engagement."

"I thought we agreed that wasn't my style?" I asked, just to annoy him. I was very short, barely five feet, and light, I still weighed less than 100 lbs. Most of the guys I fought had at least a foot on me and weighed twice as much.

"You're with a team now. You can't just hide in the back during fights."

"I thought we were covert? You know, not taking anyone head on."

"Would it kill you to agree with me once?" I laughed. He knew I was just pressing his buttons for the fun of it. It was one of the things I did when I got bored.

"What ever. So, I need to learn, teach me."

Bruce launched into a lecture about how to directly engage opponents who are bigger and stronger than you are. I let him talk for a few minutes before punching him in the stomach, then flipping over his head before he could react. Bruce turned, surprised, then lunged at me. I moved to the side, and jumped up, landing a kick on his right arm, before moving so I stood behind him again. Once Bruce turned, like I knew he would, I kicked him in the chest.

Or tried to. He grabbed my leg, leaving me fighting for balance. But before he could say anything, I brought my other leg up and kicked him in the stomach, making him loosen his grip on my leg. I pushed off his chest, twisting in midair so I landed on my side, and I rolled into a crouch.

"How's that for direct combat?" I asked, pleased and surprised with how that had turned out.

"I thought I told you to listen."

"I thought you knew that I learn better by doing."

Bruce laughed, and then changed back into Batman and lunged at me. And for once, I was glad that I had been singled out to work on something.

**AN: Thanks to everyone who has read, and special thanks to those who reviewed, followed, and favorited! Sorry about lack of updates, I'm on vacation and just proofreading and posting already written chapters. I get home on Friday, so updates should be coming sooner. Thanks again and don't forget to review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Lone Eagle

Chapter Four: Dropzone

Caribbean Sea

July 22nd, 20:08 ECT

We were flying over the tranquil seas of the Caribbean, strapped into the bioship. There was no formal plan, heck, we didn't even have an official leader. But it had happened.

The Team was given a mission.

"We are approaching Santa Prisca." Miss M announced from her seat at the controls. The view was magnificent. Although it was cloudy, you could see the occasional hill top pointing through the clouds. But it wasn't time to admire the scenery. No, this was a time for focusing on our goal.

"Santa Prisca. This island nation is the main sorce of an illeagal neosteriod drug sold under the street name of Venom. Infrared signatures indicate that their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of Venom have been cut is where this team comes in.

"This is a covert recon mission only." Batman continued. "Observe and report. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will. The plan requires two dropzones."

"So who's in charge?" Rob had asked, not caring who was talking as always. Batman shared a look with Red Tornado. In that instant, I knew that Bats hoped that Rob or I would assume the leadership position. Robin was better suited for it, a fact that I knew well enough. I had been told quite a few times that if I wanted to be a better leader, I needed to speak up more.

"Work that out between you." Batman had decided. I looked at the Team, and it was then that I knew it. Rob and KF would be looked in an all out battle for the position. I had no chance. It would be better not to get involved, which I vowed to do.

"Drop zone A in 30." Miss M's declaration reminded me that I needed to concentrate. Leadership was not important now. What was important was getting the mission done right.

Aqualad stood from his chair, prepared to drop. He hit the symbol on his belt, and his shirt changed from red to a dark grey. Stealth tech. I didn't have it, I was dark enough as is, and Rob didn't either. To most people, that wouldn't make any sense, he looked like a stoplight, but Rob was an expert at stealth. We both were, I guess, but my uniform did make it easier for me at times.

"Ready." Aqualad confirmed as his chair melted away.

"Putting Bioship in camouflage mode." Miss M added. We dipped down, so we were closer to the water, and a second later, Aqualad jumped out of the hole that had formed in the flor of the ship and landed in the ocean, barely making a slpash.

We flew up again, heading towards our dropzone, almost on the other side of the island. The silence in the ship was strange. Usually, we all joked around a little bit, or at least KF did, but this was serious. If we ddin't do well on this mission, who knew if we'd be assigned another?

"Heat and motion sensors are patched." Aqualad's voice seemed unnaturally loud in the silence of the Bioship. "Data is now on a continuous loop. Move in." The ship once again dropped altitude, and I did a final check of the pockets in my utility belt, making sure I had everything. I double checked that my hair was still in it's braid and that my mask was secured. Everything was ready for action.

"Drop zone B." Miss M announced, and formed grappling hooks from the organic material of the Bioship for Rob, KF, and I. I attatched it to my belt, breathing in through my nose and out through my mouth to help stay calm. KF switched his uniform to stealth tech.

"How cool is this?" He said, gesturing to his now dark grey uniform.

"Very impressive." Miss M replied, then changed her uniform to black.

"Uh, that works too." KF replied, seeming a bit startled. "Hey Supey! Not too late to put on the new stealth tech!" He said stealth tech like one might say unlimited candy or free wifi, in complete and utter awe.

"No capes, no tights." The clone replied. "No offense."

"It totally works for you." Miss M said, sounding a bit dreamy. "In that you can totally do good work in those clothes." It was a smooth fix- sarcasm- but Superboy didn't seem to mind all that much. Or show it at least. Until he shot her a look that I couldn't quite read, and the Martian hid her head in her cloak and switched to camouflage mode.

A few seconds later, we dropped. Rob, KF, and I landed smoothly thanks to the hooks, and Miss M floated down. I was in the middle of unclipping the hook from my belt when I realized that Supes hadn't jumped yet. I ran to the side as the part Kryptonian landed, creating a crater.

"Knew I didn't need a line." He said calmly.

"And yet creating a minor seismic event did not help with the covert!" Rob and I snapped at the same time. Oops. I looked at him, he looked at me, silently daring the other to say 'Jinx!' but neither of us did. Miss M changed the subject by contacting Aqualad.

"Aqualad, drop zone B is a go." I knelt down and activated the holocomputer in my glove, tracking Aqualad and determining the best way to the factory.

"Copy that. Head for the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP." He replied through our ear pieces.

"Roger that." I replied, then shut it down and began to trek through the wilderness. In the daylight, the island would be gorgeous, I thought as we hiked behind a waterfall. But at night it was plain old creepy. The calls of nocturnal birds echoed through the forest, and the constant crashing of water was completely different from the nightsounds I was used to. Give me police sirens and people yelling and I'm right at home, but the wilderness is a different world.

Rob and KF led the way, and I walked in back beside Miss M. It was easy for her to stay quiet, she wasn't even walking, just levitating about six inches off the ground. I had to watch where I stepped and what I stepped in. Robin paused for a second, and pulled out his holocomputer, probably to make sure there was no one nearby.

"Did you hear that?" Superboy asked, sounding startled.

"Uh, no." Kid Flash replied. "Is this a super hearing thing?"

"You do have great ears." Miss M added, and I mentally facepalmed. Mentally though, not actually.

"Ok. Now what?" KF seemed to be asking Rob who had disappeared, seemingly into thin air. I knew better though. He was probably within feet of us. "I hate it when he does that!"

"Superboy, Kid," Aqualad's voice came through, "Switch to infrared. See if you're being tracked." KF pulled down his goggles and looked around.

"Got a squad of armed bozos incoming." The speedster remarked.

"Two squads." Supes added. "But they'll meet eachother before they find us."

"No superhearing require now." KF said.

"Swing wide, stay clear." Aqualad commanded.

"Yeah, yeah." Oh lordy KF. You're going to do something stupid. "As soon as I find Rob!" And then he took off, right in the direction of the armed bozos.

"Follow him!" I yelled, dropping the stealth thing. "Oh I'm going to kill him!" Superboy, Miss M, and I ran after the speedster. Kid Flash was too implusive, too stubborn, too… Flash like. Seriously, did he ever stop to think 'Hey, maybe I should try using my smarts for once?' no because he was too damn stubborn.

The gunfire became louder the closer we got. Supes was running ahead of Miss M and I, which made since cuz he was the second fastest on the team. We waited for a second on the rise, watching KF and Supes fight both sides.

Then Robin flew in. Oh, I was going to kill that kid too.

"Hah!" He exclaimed as he punched a guy. "What is wrong with you guys? What happened to covert? Why didn't you follow my lead? Dissappear into the jungle?" I jumped, flipped, and landed right behind an armed idiot, kicked him in the back, and watched him fall forwards.

"That's what you were doing?" KF asked, resting after punching a dude in the face. "Thanks for filling us in. We're not mind readers!" He paused. "Well, I'm not anyway."

"You told me I could only read the bad guys minds!" Miss M exclaimed as I let a guy run at me.

"Yeah, and you shouldn't really count on me to tell everyone what you're up to!" I added as I kicked the gun out of the bozo's hand before ducking underneath his arms to elbow him in the stomach. Kid Flash ran at someone. That someone grabbed his neck and electrocuted him, causing the speedster to fall to the ground.

I almost laughed. Go Aqualad!

We tied the fallen men to the trees with rope that Rob and I had in our belts. I worked with my brother, but the tension between us was obvious. We didn't fight often, but when we did Bruce likened it to the battles between Bats and the Joker. It was that bad.

Once all the goons were tied up, we stood together like a group would, though it was obvious we were not. Not yet anyways. We still barely knew how the others worked. Well, except for Rob and I, I guess, but that was the only exception.

"I recognize the uniforms." Robin stated. "They belong to the Cult of the Kobra."

"I am certain that Batman would have mentioned it if he knew a dangerous extremeist was running Santa Prisca's venom operation." Aqualad replied, not nessecerily challenging what Rob had said, but questioning it.

"Agreed. And because there's clearly no love between Kobra and those goons, I'm betting that Kobra came and took over. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off." Rob hypothesized.

"We get it." KF sounded frustrated. "Cultists. Radio Batman and we'll be home in time for-"

"These cultists aren't on Venom, they're hoarding this stuff!" I exclaimed.

"We don't leave, not until I know why." Rob finished for me.

"Until you know why?" KF pointed out, glaring at Robin.

"This team needs a leader." Rob replied.

"And it's you?" KF rebuted. "Dude, you're a 13 year old kid, who ducked out on us without a word. Your sister would be better and she barely talks!" Rob laughed it off, while I clenched me fists and blushed. Oh, they were both going to get it later.

"Yeah, and you're a mature 15? You blew our cover first chance you got!"

"Idiots." I muttered as Rob and KF continued to argue.

"You are not going to try to lead?" Aqualad asked sounding genuinely interested.

"No. Although it wasn't called for, Kid Flash made a valid point. If I wanted it, I would need to be able to communicate better." I replied.

"Then who do you believe would be the best leader?"

"You want the truth?" I aksed, and he nodded. "You would. Now, let me go break them up because I'm the only one who can." I stalked off towards my arguing teammates and was about to force them to shut up or else when one of the tied dudes began to laugh.

"Such clever niños." He began. "You only know half the story. Let me show you the rest, get you inside the factory via my secret enterance."

"There is a secret entrance but he is hiding something." Miss M, Superboy, and Aqualad had walked over to where I stood between Rob and KF once they heard the tied dude talking. Miss M knelt down and her eyes glowed, showing she was doing her telepathy thing.

"Uhuh chica. Bane is not that easy." The tied man- Bane- responded.

"He's mentally reciting football scores and Spanish." Miss M sounded frustrated. "This could take a while."

"It's not complicated." Bane said. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." I looked at the team. Aqualad nodded. We untied Bane and followed him as he walked towards the factory. We stopped on the edge of a cliff overlooking the factory. Rob and I pulled out our binoculars and watched the flurry of movement. They were definitely planning on shipping something, but to who or where?

"Look at all that product." Rob spoke quietly, back in covert mode. "Something is going down. But if Kobra's not selling to the usual suspects, then-"

"We need to discover who the buyer is." Aqualad finished for him.

"That's what I was thinking." KF stated.

"Yeah, you're the thinker." Rob replied.

"Sarcasm? Dude, a real leader would focus on getting answers."

"Answers," Bane said, gesturing towards a tunnel, "Are this way."

We followed the masked man into what seemed to be an old mine tunnel. It was eerily lit with old looking lanterns and I shivered.

"So, now El Lucha dor is our leader." KF muttered. Rob and I slapped him. We, the team and Bane, walked through the short tunnel, which opened after Bane pressed a button or two. Rob stuck his head through the doorway to make sure we wouldn't be caught.

"All clear." He said, then we moved out. Rob and I looked at eachother, then he ran off towards where the command center would be based on the blueprints. I didn't bother telling the rest of them where he had gone, let him get in trouble. We followed Bane for a few seconds, until he stopped.

"Has the little fool already been caught?"

"No." Aqualad sighed. "He just does that."

"Stay put. I'll get our intel and be back before the Boy Wonder." KF said and then sped off.

"Wait Kid!" Aqualad exclaimed, but if the speedster heard him, he didn't turn around. I sighed. And then there were four…

"Great chain of command." Bane stated. I looked at the other members of the team. It was true. We seriously needed a chain of command.

Silently, we made our way to the stack of crates near the huge warehouse doors. We hid behind them, watching what was going on outside. Something huge was going on.

"It's a massive shipment." Aqualad stated.

"Yeah, but they're only shipping new product." Superboy noticed. It was true. We were hiding behind the old stuff. Which meant nothing good. If the old stuff wasn't good enough to be sent out, then something huge must have been done to the new stuff. "But why? They're not touching this Venom."

"My thoughts exactly." I murmered.

"Well, maybe freshness counts?" Miss M hypothesized.

"A helicopter's coming." Superboy stated calmly, even though no one else could hear it. I trusted his super hearing though, it had helped us multiple times already today. Soon enough, we saw it land. I pulled out my binoculars and could zoom enough to see the door opening and someone stepping out. That person walked through the line of cultists to talk to the Kobra.

Shit just got serious. We were dealing with the head of the Cult of the Kobra.

Thankfully, Miss M had gotten the idea to fly over there in camouflage mode. She and Aqualad were telepathically linked as well so that she could send images back to us. Superboy, Aqualad, Bane, and I had moved to a better hidden position on one of the many elevated walkways throughout the building.

"Sportsmaster." Aqualad remarked, then activated the transmitter on his ear. "Aqualad to Red Tornado. Do you read?" Silence. "I can't reach the League, Robin, or Kid. Com's jammed." Shit just got even more serious. "We need a plan. Now."

"I have a suggestion." Bane said, then jumped over the edge with a battle cry. I groaned. Then sighed.

"What is he-" Aqualad was cut off by a giant thing crashing through the windows above. It landed on the catwalk where we stood, then jumped off of it, causing it to collapse.

I didn't even have time to freak out about the fact that I was freefalling. I flipped to lose some momentum, then landed in a crouch. Bane had engaged a Cultist, but stopped when he saw the thing land near him. Milliseconds later, we were surrounded by cultists.

"Destroy them." Lord Cobra commanded. As the cultists and the thing rushed at us, I strategically retreated. Although my entire uniform was made of Kelvar, I didn't want to risk being shot. Superboy leapt at the thing while Aqualad made a shield out of water to block the bullets.

I pulled a few Batarangs with knock out gas in them out of my belt and threw them near groups of cultists, causing them to fall to the ground, asleep. Miss M was sent flying from an explosive missle Sportsmaster launched. I sprinted forwards and flipped over a small group of cultists, causing them to turn fast, surprised. I used that to my advantage.

I kicked one in the stomach, then elbowed the one I knew would come up behind me before punching the one who tried to grab me right in the nose. Two more rushed over with their guns drawn, but I grabbed two batarangs and jumped, throwing them at the guns midflip. I landed, and disarmed the two bozos before kicking one into the other, and they went down like dominos.

Everyone online? Miss M's voice sounded in my head.

Yeah. Replied Superboy as I ran over to another group of cultists. As the group began to shoot at me I heard KF respond, You know it beautiful. I drew my cape around myself and continued to rush at them while I replied. I'm in.

Good. Aqualad said, well, thought. We need a plan. I ditched the cultists and ran outside after my brother, who stupidly went after Kobra. Busy now the insolent bird replied. I'm right behind you Rob. I thought. This was my gig E! He thought back. Yeah, and I don't want to be the one to explain to Batman why we're all fine and dandy except you came back in shreds.

"What's wrong Koby?" Robin taunted. "You look disconcerted."

"Is that even a word?" I whispered as I stood next to my brother.

"This is beneath me" Kobra said. "Shimmer, take them." The girl ran at us, and my first thought was that I hated her hairstyle. My second thought was to flip over her. Apparently, my brother had the same idea. Robin, Eagle, now! Aqualad's voice sounded in our heads, and although we kept our battlestances up, we simultaneously dropped flash bangs and ran back towards the warehouse.

KF cleared a path for us as we all regrouped and made our way back towards the secret entrance. Rob and I swung from our grappling hooks, and on the last one, I let go and flipped before landing on my feet and running. I took off down the old tunnel, not looking behind me, just in front of me where KF and Miss M were and to my right to make sure Robin was keeping pace with me.

But we were at the end. And locked in.

"How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin asked, sounding completely put down. I wanted to tell him to shut up because Batman would find something to be proud of him for no matter what. No, if something went wrong it was somehow my fault. But I stayed by my brother's side, hoping that at least provided a small comfort.

"You are tied for the most experience." Aqualad was obviously trying to make him feel better. It wouldn't work, especially since he said tied. "But perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman and Eagle your roles are defined. You do not need to talk. But this team is new. A leader needs to be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect the others to play parts in an unknown plan."

"Oh, so I'm supposed to hold everyones' hands?" Rob scowled and looked down, then looked up and smiled. "Who am I kidding? You should lead us Kaldur. You're the only one who can."

"Please, come on! I can run circles around-"

"Wally, be mature for once. You know he's the one. We all do." I meant to be quiet, but in the small cavern my voice sounded unnaturally loud.

"Hello Megan! It's so obvious!" Miss M exclaimed.

"Could've told you." Superboy added. KF still looked a bit put off.

"Okay." KF agreed. Aqualad walked over to where Rob and I stood.

"I accept the burden." Aqualad spoke calmly then looked Rob and I in the eyes in turn. "Until one of you two are ready to lift it from my shoulders." Rob smiled, and I guess I did a little bit but it was kind of forced. I felt like crying. No one had ever said anything that made me feel as good about my self as this. But it made me feel horrible and caused butterflies to erupt in my stomach at the same tiem. I knew that once we were back home or at least in the Bat Cave, a fight would break out between my brother and I. A fight that I did nothing to start or create. "You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon." Rob's smile grew, and mine faltered a bit, but still nodded.

"Alright, our first priority is to prevent the shipment from leaving the island."

"Funny, I had the same thought." Rob added.

We finalized the plan before running back towards the outside entrance of the tunnel.

"Sportsmaster is the buyer, but it still doesn't track. He doesn't have the juice to provide the Blockbuster formula, or to get Kobra to do his dirty work." Rob remarked as he read files he had downloaded onto his holocomputer.

"And neither of them have the guts to mix Venom with Blockbuster." KF added. "That takes some major nerdage."

"I believe the expression is tip of the iceberg." Aqualad remarked.

"Halt ninos." Bane said from the enterance to the tunnel. "Halt ninos. I'm feeling… explosive." I looked up. I could see the lights from explosives on the roof of the tunnel. Shit. Bane obviously had the control to set it off as well.

"You betrayed us. Why?" Aqualad asked.

"I want my factory back." Bane replied as if it was common sense. Kid, get a running projected his thoughts to us. "I put you in a situation where you would either down my enemies or die trying. If the last was true, the Justice League would certainly come to avenge their sidekicks! Once the smoke cleared, the factory would be mine once more.

"Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." Just as he was aobut to hit the trigger, KF ran at him, grabbing the trigger out of his big hands.

"With what?" KF asked cheekily. "This trigger thingy?"

"Whano!" Bane yelled, or something similar. I didn't really bother to listen. The rest of us moved forward, and just as Bane was about to punch KF, Miss M did her thing and lifted him off the ground.

"I've been waiting for this moment." Superboy cracked his knuckles. "Drop him!" Bane fell, and milliseconds later was punched in the face by an angry part Kryptonian. Once Bane had received a through beating, we headed down to the factory.

We could hear the blades turning on the helicopter. They had fixed what I had sabotaged. Damn it! I knew I should have killed the control panel, even though Aqualad said that would be overkill.

"KF! Run ahead and engage!" Aqualad commanded. The speedster ran down, a barely visible blur in the darenss. Rob and I ran towards Kobra and Shimmer. Once we were close, I threw my bolas, effectively wrapping Shimmer's arms to her body and causing her to fall. Rob and I smirked at the cult leader.

"I know you hate getting your hands dirty." Rob remarked.

"True, but sometimes even a god must stoop to conquer." Kobra replied, taking off his hooded cape thingy before stepping forwards. Rob and I leaped at him, but he threw us backwards without even trying. I went low while Rob went high, but I was forced back with a hard kick to the chest and Rob was sent flying backwards.

"What's wrong children?" Kobra taunted. "You look disconcerted." We kept on going, pushing on, but no matter what we tried, we were always forced down to the ground. I retreated once I heard the helicopter crash, and ran off to find the team.

"Guys!" I yelled. "Come on! Robin's fighting Kobra and he doesn't stand a chance!" My teammates followed me as I ran back to where Rob was losing.

"I am plagued by mosquitoes." Kobra's voice carried, and I sped up. Rob was down.

"Good! Cause this mosquito is mightily concerted by your pain!" Rob rolled from underneath Kobra's foot and jumped back to join us where we stood. A team.

"Another time then." Kobra said before disappearing into the forest. Literally gone. Rob walked over to Aqualad.

"We picked the right guy to lead. We also picked the right guy to explain this mess to Batman!"Rob sounded pleased that he wouldn't have to do it himself, which was made obvious to the rest of them when he laughed. I joined him.

Mount Justice

July 23rd, 10:01 EDT

Debrief time. How many different ways can I say it went wrong? After describing the mission from our different spots in our military like line, we were lectured. By Batman. Which happens way too much for me to handle. But at least this time, I wasn't the only one in trouble.

"A simple recon mission. Observe and report. You will each receive an evaluation detailing your many mistakes." Oh I get it Bats, we messed up big time. Now shut up and let me go home. But no he continued lecturing us and pacing back and forth in front of us like an army drill sergeant. "Until then, good job."

"Big bat daddy say what?" I muttered under my breath, shocked.

"No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy. How you adjust in the unforeseen is what determines success. And how you chose who leads determines character." Batman made his way to the Zeta tubes and teleported away. Rob and I took that as our cue to leave, so we did after saying good bye to our teammates. I waved one last time as I stood in the port, and although none of them seemed to notice, I still smiled as I was teleported back to Gotham.

Wayne Manor

July 23rd, 6:15 EDT

I threw the file across my bedroom in anger. In detailing all of my mistakes, Bruce had also gone and pointed out all the tiny little things that I needed to work on such as communicating, speaking up, and keeping my teammates in line. I also needed to work on stealth (I have no clue why that one's in there because I have snuck up on Bruce multiple times), use of tools, and a way to unblock radio.

If that doesn't seem bad, let me point out that there was a page on each of the ones listed above; two on communication and it's importance.

But there was still a page left, and although I was pretty sure it would make me want to throw the packet for fifth time (the paper was surisingly durable) I forced myself out of the window seat then walked across my bedroom to where the papers lay on the cream carpet of my room. Instead of going all the way back to the window seat, I jumped on my bed, for once not caring that I created wrinkles on my neon blue and black striped quilt.

I flipped to the back page, and smiled when I saw it was only two short paragraphs and a single line on its own. As i read, my smile grew. The two paragraphs listed what I did right. Bruce seemed to be proud that I had stuck with my teammates and not run off on my own like Dick had twice. He also commended my ability to stay calm and think on the spot.

It might not have seemed like much, but coming from Bruce this was huge. Praise on anything was hard to come by, but I realized that it was good in a weird sort of way. In the real world, you had to fight for praise, it wasn't given just because. Anyway, there are enough people with ego problems because their parents thought they were perfect. I was fine not being told how well I had done every hour.

I read the final sentance, thinking it would just be a conclusion of some sort like the one you write at the end of an essay. But it wasn't. It was something completely different and I almost threw the packet across the room again.

_After consulting Kaldur_, it read, _we determined that you would be the best second in command for Young Justice. _

No way. No freakin way. I thought as I read the sentence again. And again, and again.

It was true. I was second in command of Young Justice. Nothing can get me out of it now. I put the file down and headed down to the kitchen. Dinner would be ready in a few minutes and Alfred would be wanting help. Not to mention I was bored.

"Ah, Miss Emma," Alfred said as I walked into the kitchen, "I was just about to call you. Dinner is served." I nodded, then followed the butler into the dining room. The huge table was way too big for the three of us who ate there, but Alfred thought it best so we did as well. His word is law in this house anyways.

I sat down in my seat to Bruce's left and put my napkin in my lap as Alfred put thr food on the table. I muttered a 'thank you' before grabbing the salad tongs and putting some Caesar salad on my plate. Dick passed the rolls, and I grabbed one but couldn't meet his eyes. He was going to be so mad.

If my brother noticed he didn't say anything as he passed the chicken towards me. We ate in silence for a while, more focused on getting energy for the night then making idle conversation. I didn't mind at all and none of us were the kind of people who felt the need to break the silence. Going for long periods of time without talking is completely normal and we know how to read each other's movements from long hours on patrol. And anyway, I prefer the quiet.

"Have either of you read your packets yet?" Bruce asked breaking the silence and bringing up the topic I dreaded.

"Not yet," Dick replied, "I'll probably do it tonight."

"Emma?" Bruce turned his attention to me. I gulped.

"Um, yeah." I responded, internally slapping myself. Now it would be obvious something was off.

"And..."

"Why am I second in command?" I spit out, talking faster then I think I ever had before.

"What!?" Dick yelled. "I thought I was second in command!"

"Oh trust me I did as well." I responded, trying to stay calm.

"You didn't even try to become leader! Why are you second in command?" I couldn't help it. I lost it.

"Are you questioning my ability?" I asked, my voice beginning to sound more like a snarl.

"Why yes. Yes I am." I stood, the chair squeaking as I suddenly pushed it back.

"Try me." Malice dripped from my voice as I spoke quietly. Dick stood as well.

"Enough!" Bruce yelled as he too stood. "Both of you to your rooms now!" I sent one last glare at my brother before pushing in my chair and walking out of the dining room. I took the stairs two at a time and slammed to door to my room once I was inside. The pictures on my wall shuddered from the impact.

I stalked over to my desk where my iPhone was plugged into the speaker. I unlocked it and shuffled my Pandora stations. Then I flung myself onto my bed and screamed my frustrations into the pillow. I had known this would happen. But I had let myself believe that it would turn out differently. Stupid, sfupid, stupid. I flipped over and stared at the ceiling, debating whether or not to curl up and sleep but possibly miss patrol, or stay awake and not face Bruce's wrath as well. No contest. Staying awake it was.

I lay in silence, just listening to the music. And my plan was to do that until 9 when I went down to the Batcave to get ready for patrol. But somewhere in between I fell asleep.

The next thing I knew, someone was shaking me awake. My music was still playing and I cracked open my eyes. 9:15. Shit.

"Patrol, Emma." Bruce said.

"Sorry." I muttered as I stood up. I rolled my shoulders as I stood. "I'll be down in 5."

"The faster the better." He responded as he walked out the door. "Oh, and it's Dick's night off, so it's just the two of us." Internally, I jumped for joy at th prospect of being able to avoid my brother, but I just nodded before jogging into the bathroom to put my hair up. I quickly pulled it up into a high ponytail before quickly braiding it. A minute later, I slid down the banister before opening the door behind the Grandfather clock.

I ran down the stairs, yelled to Bruce-Bats that I was there before heading into my locker room to change. Once everything was on except for my cape and mask, I walked out of my little room to the main Cave, where Batman was working away on the computer.

"Anyone out of Arkham?" I asked as I adjusted my cape.

"No." He replied, terse as always. I stuck my mask on and blinked to adjust to seeing through it.

"So it'll just be us and the not so crazies? Fun. Where am I patrolling?"

"Tonight we will stay together to make sure you are improving." I made a face. Patrolling with Batman was never fun, especially when it was to make sure I was 'improving'. It pretty much meant that everything I did wrong would be pointed out.

"Alright." Resigned to the fact I would have a horrible night, I grabbed my belt from where it hung and double checked that I had everything I would need. Sadly, I did.

After 15 minutes of monitering and pinpointing possible trouble spots, we were in the Batmobile speeding through downtown Gotham. Once we were in the slums, we exited the car and Bats sent it back to the Cave. I shot a grappling hook up amd let it pull me up to the roof of a three story buildimg, Batman right behind me. From there, we moved quietly through the area, stopping and observing the area every block or so.

It was quiet. Too quiet to be normal.

A block up, we found out why. One of the gangs that I hadn't bothered to learn the name of had gathered around the bank and we trying to break in. There must have been at least 50 of them throwing pebbles, beer bottles, and anything decently hard they could find on the street at the windows. All of them were obviously drunk to the point of stupidity.

A nod from Batman signaled me to jump into the fray. Right into the middle of it. Leaving me no choice but to directly confront them.

I landed on one of the idiots' head and flipped from that to a small gap in the crowd. I didn't need to look back to know the guy had fallen backwards. One of the closest thugs tp me threw a punch but i ducked- if I had moved a millisecond later I would have had a black eye- and I used my crouched position to sweep his legs out from underneath him.

Seconds later, another ugly swung his arms wildly, trying to lay a blow. I kicked him in the stomach, hard enough to force him down and send a few people behind him tumbling as well. I repeated this several times, not caring who I knocked them down because once they were down, they ran. Stupidly enough, the others seemed to be fine with me beating them up a few at a time. I was hit a few times on my back and would have some nasty bruises later, but when that happened I turned and quickly forced that guy down before turning back to the first, my cape spinning wildly behind me.

I was about to repeat the process when one idiot had a moment of intelligence. When I kicked him, he grabbed my leg, grinning at me as if so say 'I win, you lose now you get a big bad bruise' like you did when you won a game as a child.

Um, not gonna happen.

I jumped and kicked him in the chest with my free leg. His grip slacked a bit and it was all I needed to be able to kick it free, sending the one smart guy down like the rest of the obtuse idiots. By now there were only 20 or so left, and none of them even dared to advance.

"Well?" I snarled, and they hightailed it away from me. Once the imbeciles were out of sight, Bats dropped down next to me, another shadow in the barely lit street.

"That was better." Was all he said.

"Better?" I was fuming. "Better is all I get? I worked my butt of on this for at least 10 hours and that's all I felt? If this was Rob, you'd be pointing put what he did better on and make as big of a spectacle that you're possible of making out of it! But me? I just get better." I walked away, taking a few steps before I realized something. "You don't even think I', good enough to be second in command. So why don't you give Rob the position? Kick me off for all I care!"

I continued walking, hoping that he would catch up, hoping that he would somehow signal to me that he did care and did think i was ready, and did think that I was a valuable member of the Team, but I had walked two blocks and hadn't heard anything.

I used my holocomputer to summon my bike and while I waited let myself disappear into the shadows of an alley. Once it had arrived and I had slipped on my helmet the tears fell, and by the time I was back in the Batcave you could plainly see the tear tracks running down my face.


	5. Chapter 5

Lone Eagle Chapter 5

Schooled

Mount Justice

August 3rd, 13:00 EDT

One thing that's never fun is being in a horrid mood when everyone else is in a great one. And that's exactly what was happening at Mt Justice.

We were waiting for our first training session with Black Canary and my teammates, excluding Superboy who had disappeared, were playing virtual air hockey using the holocomputer in the training center. Needless to say, I didn't join them and was reading The Art of War by Sun Tzu. It was actually quite interesting, but the noise my teammates were making kept on distracting me.

"Are you sure you don't want to play Eagle?" M'gann asked. I was going to say that I would, but Rob sent me a glare so I sighed and turned back to my book.

"I'm fine." I replied. "And anyway, I really should finish this sooner rather than later." Actually, I didn't need to finish it at all. Heck, the only reason why I was reading it was because Bruce had always said that I was too young to understand it, so here I was, spiting him even more by reading it. Not that he would really care anyway, especially by the way he acted.

The last few days have been tough in the Manor. I'm kind of avoiding everyone and talking as little as possible. I've called Babs a few times just to talk, but other than that I barely speak. My room has become my safe haven, and I stay in there as much as possible.

Patrol is well, for lack of better words, difficult. We all cover our own areas so it's not bad most of the time but when someone's out of Arkham we're all on high alert, which means we stick together. The Joker was out two nights ago, and it was worse than usual. Not to mention I got a pretty horrid cut on my right arm and had to get stitches. Which meant I haven't been on patrol since.

If we didn't have training today, I might have gone insane. No patrol means I couldn't use the gym unless Bruce was watching me to make sure that I wasn't doing anything that would reopen my wounds. And since there was no way I was facing him after my outburst on patrol, I was confined to my room. Things had gotten a little bit more normal yesterday when Bruce left for a conference in Metropolis.

But things between Dick and I were still tense. We barely spoke to each other, and when it did it wasn't the playful banter we used to have. It was forced, overly polite. And I hated it.

But every time I tried to talk to him, he would walk away. Alfred kept on saying that it would blow over, but I had already lost my parents. Dick was my only true family that was still alive. And I couldn't lose him as well, especially over something this stupid.

The machine pinged, signaling someone had won. I looked over to see Kal looking slightly put off and Wally looking proud. I turned my attention back towards my book and tucked a strand of my ebony hair behind my ear.

"Recognized: Superboy, B05." The computer chimed.

"Hi Superboy. How was Metropolis?" M'gann asked. Superboy gave no response as he stalked by me after walking right through the others' game.

"Ready for training everyone?" Black Canary asked. I stuck my bookmark, one of my old hair ribbons, in the book and closed it before standing and walking over to join the rest of the team in the center of the training area.

"Black Canary. Uncle J'onn!" M'gann ran to her uncle and hugged him. I was jealous. M'gann was so lucky to have an uncle who cared about her and showed it. I wasn't even sure if Bruce really cared that much, if he did he sure as hell had a weird way of showing it. I tuned out their exchange, instead choosing to fiddle with my cape.

"Stick around." Black Canary said to Superboy, who had turned and began walking away. "Class is in session." The clone sent a glare her way, but stayed. If BC noticed, she didn't say anything. I had a feeling that if I had pulled that stunt I could have gotten away with it. I was pretty sure that someone had mentioned in passing that Rob and I knew how to take down every Leaguer, and none of them really wanted to be beaten by 13 year olds.

"I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you. Everything I've learned from my own mentor and my own bruises." She removed her jacket and part of her arm was wrapped in a fashion similar to mine but in a different spot. Mine was mostly hidden by my right glove anyway, and I tried to keep it that way. I didn't need people asking what happened. It was my stupid mistake and I didn't need everyone to know about it.

"What happened?" M'gann asked, sounding concerned.

"The job." Black Canary replied. "Now, combat is about controlling conflict. Putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting." She paused to let that statement sink in. "I'll need a sparring partner."

"Right here!" Wally exclaimed, banana in hand and in mouth. God, does that kid have no manners? "After this," he made a noise that I guess was supposed to be a basketball going through the net, "I'll show you some of my moves." Flirting with the teacher. This was a new low, even for Wally. But Black Canary smirked as if she had been expecting it.

BC made to punch Wally, but he blocked, and when he stepped back to regain his balance, kicked his legs out from under him, causing him to fall backwards onto the ground. I fought the urge to quote Taylor Swift and say 'Now you're lying on the cold, hard ground'.

"Hurts so good." The speedster groaned from where he lay.

"Good block, but did anyone see what he did wrong?"

"Oh! Oh!" Rob exclaimed. "He hit on the teacher and got served!"

"Dude!" Wally hissed and I smirked. It was too easy to tease him.

"He allowed me to dictate the terms and-" BC started.

"With my powers the battle's always on my terms." Supes scoffed. "I'm a living weapon and this is a waste of my time."

"Prove it." Black Canary said. In that moment, I knew there was no way Supes could win. BC was more trained and in control of her emotions and her powers. She was also a master martial artist, and had years of experience. Superboy did have more strength, but half the job is learning to take down those who would normally be able to overpower you. You had to, or you would lose.

Superboy walked forward to accept the challenge. The rest of us took a step back as BC and Superboy studied each other like people did before the shootouts in the old western movies. I crossed my arms. The winner was obvious, but it would be good to learn by watching I guess. But even that didn't stop me from getting bored. I wanted action. I hadn't been allowed to do anything for three days. I needed to let my anger out somehow besides writing.

They switched into a fighting stance. Superboy made the first move, throwing a punch, but BC just grabbed his arm and threw him. He was down within a matter of seconds. Rob started laughing, but Kal elbowed him, and my brother attempted to silence his giggles. I stayed silent where I stood on Kal's other side.

But Superboy got up, obviously ticked. He shouldn't have made it seem like he was better than the rest of us, which was what he did, so he kind of deserved it. But he had made a logical point. He was physically stronger than the rest of us by a lot.

"You're angry, good." Black Canary observed. "But don't react. Channel that anger and-" She didn't get the chance to finish, because Superboy was rushing her. He reached out to punch her but she flipped over him and swept his legs out from underneath him, causing him to fall on the ground. I recognized the tactic, it was a basic move. Let them rush you, get under them and get their legs out from underneath. The great thing about it was that it worked most of the time.

Rob laughed again, but tried to hide it this time. Superboy stood up, definitely angry.

"That's it. I'm done." He growled. Black Canary put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off.

"Training is mandatory." Was all she said. The two stared each other down for a few seconds before a screen popped up.

"Batman to the Cave," He said, and I grimaced. I did not need this right now! Especially since chances are, I was going to be told to stay behind. The rest of the team walked over, but I stayed in the back, away from Rob and the screen. "Five hours ago, a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary." An image popped up on the screen. A muscular guy with red eyes and hair and elfish ears. "The attacker was capable of studying, then duplicating the powers of its opponents.

"Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous, as our foe gained more and more power with each new combatant."

"Whoa." Wally sounded shocked. This was bad. Really bad. "One guy with the powers of the entire League?!"

"In the end, it took eight Leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android." Batman continued.

"An android?" Rob questioned, then stepped forward. "Who made it, T.O. Morrow?"

"Good guess Robin, but Red Tornado doesn't think so."

"The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo." Martian Manhunter said gravely. I had nearly forgotten he was there.

"Ivo?" Aqualad asked, then looked to me. I mouthed the word dead to him. "But Ivo's dead."

"So we all thought." Black Canary murmured, looking back at Kal and I. "Or hoped."

"To make certain this threat is permanently neutralized," Batman continued, "We're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate Star Labs facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken.

"We'll have four additional decoy trucks in case Ivo, or anyone, tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks."

"Yes!" Wally exclaimed. "Road trip!"

"So now we're taking out your trash?" Superboy questioned.

"You had something better to do?" Batman replied.

"Maybe I did." I muttered. Kaldur looked at me strangely, but didn't say anything.

"Coordinates received." The Atlantean said. "On our way." We jogged over to the hangar, where we found civvie like bike gear and helmets. I took off my cape and my skirt before putting the leather jacket and pants on. Since we were just following something I kept my hair down and quickly switched from mask to sunglasses.

With my helmet, which had my cape and skirt in it, under my arm I walked over to where the bikes were. My bike, which I had called the E-Bike for years now, was waiting for me there. But something was different. The handlebars had a few new extra buttons on them, new upgrades. When did I get upgrades? Aqualad approached me, he too in biker gear, but the others were still getting ready.

"Are you alright Eagle? You seemed a bit tense back there." He asked, polite as always. I raised an eyebrow.

"I could say something completely sarcastic right now, but you're being nice so I won't." I responded.

"Truthfully?" I sighed and decided it would be best to just answer truthfully.

"I've been having issues with Rob ever since I got second in command and he didn't, and I've also issues with Batman since then. And I was injured on patrol two nights ago, so I didn't think I'd be able to go on this mission." Aqualad looked like he was going to say something else, but the others were almost ready so he switched back to mission stuff.

"You will be leading Robin and Superboy. I know they might not be the best people for you to work with right now, but I believe you can handle it. I hope this mission will be as simple as it sounds." He said-ordered?- before heading over to his own bike, putting on his helmet, and mounting it. I did the same after sticking my cape, mask, and skirt in my hidden compartment in the axle of the front wheel. A few minutes later, we sped out of the hangar and onto the streets.

Litchfield County

August 3rd, 20:08 EDT

We watched from the trees as the parts were loaded into carriers then lifted into trucks. It had taken us a few hours to get here, but we were just in time. The trucks closed their back hatches and Batman signaled for the six trucks to go their separate directions down the highway. A few seconds later, Aqualad signaled for us to follow the trucks, and we took off as well.

Rob, Superboy, and I were following the Manhattan bound truck. The three of us rode in silence down the highway, cruising past fields and cow pastures. I didn't like it all that much, I was such a city girl.

"If dislike is the opposite of like," Rob stated, breaking the silence, "Then is aster the opposite of disaster? See, instead of things going wrong, they go right!"

"Still butchering the English language? After all these years?" I asked.

"Clearly, you're not feeling the aster Supes. What's wrong?" He asked. Oh fine, just ignore me. I sped ahead of the two of them, although I was still reasonably far back from the truck and could hear their conversation through the com link.

"Canary. And what business does she have teaching combat to a guy with super strength?" Supes replied.

"Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig. Canary learned that the hard way. Same with Batman, and well Eagle and me." We rode in silence for a few minutes, and I expected it to stay like that the rest of the way.

But then green little monkey things with jet packs and creepy little laughs decided to crash the party. They went after the truck. Shit. Someone knew.

"Eagle, Robin, Superboy," Aqualad's voice sounded through the comm. link, "Our truck is under attack!"

"Ditto!" I responded. "Jeez, these things have annoying laughs!"

"I hate monkeys." Superboy growled.

"Robot monkeys!" Rob exclaimed, then laughed. "Totally Ivo's tweak style!" He switched his bike to battle mode. How could I tell? His front wheel became a floating laser cannon. "Hey, switch your ride to battle mode!"

"Sorry, didn't get that update." I muttered, and sped up. I actually might of, but didn't feel like pressing random buttons right now. I put my bike on auto pilot so I could try to mess with the robotic monkeys.

"No point." Superboy announced, then launched himself onto the truck. His bike fell, discarded. I swerved around it, and accelerated until I was right behind the truck. I climbed onto the back ledge and used a button on my glove to turn my bike off once I had dropped it on the side of the road. Rob joined me a few seconds later after shooting a grappling gun to get there.

I shoved a few of the monkeys off but more replaced them. Rob and I were side by side kicking and punching the stupid monkeys off the truck. One sunk its claws into my arm, right where my stitches were.

"Ow!" I exclaimed, my muscles tight from the pain as I shoved the monkey _off_.

"You okay?" Rob asked.

"Do I sound okay?" I responded. I looked up to see if any more were coming, but instead saw Superboy being lifted into the air by a few of them. I watched, unable to do anything, as they dropped him. I jumped, grabbed the edge of the roof of the truck, and pulled myself up. There was a hole in the ceiling. Shit. I pulled out my bo staff and cut through the monkeys that were on board, Rob doing the same with his eskrima sticks.

Once all the ones on there were gone, Superboy jumped back onto the truck, monkeys already latched onto him. But then something must have happened with the tires cause the truck was out of control. Rob opened the door, grabbed the driver and dove into the corn fields. The truck started to lose balance and I jumped as well and landed in a crouch on the other side of the road.

It rolled and I watched as a hole was blown open in the back and monkeys flew out, box in hand. Superboy lifted the truck off of himself with a yell, and then proceeded to run- no, do his super jump- after the monkeys.

"Superboy!" I yelled.

"Aqualad to Eagle." My comm. Piece sounded. "We've lost our cargo did you-"

"It's gone." I sighed, my hand on my earpiece so the microphone was activated. "And Superboy too." I turned to Rob. "They lost theirs as well."

"So what now? Call the League?" Rob asked.

"I don't know." I replied, half listening to Rob, half listening to the exchange between Aqualad and Superboy. I held my earpiece in to talk to Aqualad. "I think he ditched his comm."

"Wait, Robin, these are androids. Do you think the signal would be hackable?" I asked.

"It's worth a try." He replied, then knelt next to a monkey. I squatted next to him as he plugged his glove into what I hoped was the monkey's main system.

"Wait, we're trying something." I addressed Aqualad. "Rob's plugged into a monkey's mainframe."

"We'd have heard by now if the other trucks had been attacked," Robin thought out loud, his comm. Microphone Activated, "so how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?" I looked over his shoulder as his wrist computer decoded the settings. "Ha! The parts have GPS! The monkeys can track the signal! Which means I can track them with the one I captured."

"Wait a sec." I studied Rob's screen for a moment. "The parts are converging in Gotham City." Rob and I looked at each other. That was our city. Our home. And some crazy creature equipped with the powers of the Leaguers was heading there.

"That far south? M'gann and I won't get there anytime soon." Aqualad stated. "I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Aqualad out." I hit a button on my glove and stood, before turning to Robin.

"We cool?" I asked.

"Asterous." He responded as our bikes drove up. "But this is definitely a disaster. Heavy on the dis." We began walking towards Gotham, trying to make some progress before our bikes caught us. But we hadn't gone that far since we had ditched em, so they caught us in seconds.

"Wait a sec." I told my brother and pulled my skirt and cape out of the hidden compartment. "I hate fighting in civvies." I quickly pulled my skirt on and put on my cape. I turned to see Rob adjusting his cape.

"Is the coast clear?" he asked me, mask in hand. I grabbed mine as well.

"Yup." I responded, then quickly switched sunglasses for mask. I raked my fingers through my rib length black hair and made a face. I didn't have anything to pull it up, so even if it came down to a fight, I was stuck with it down, which bugged me. But since I couldn't do anything about it, I stuck my helmet back on and drove off again, Robin right next to me.

Gotham City

August 3, 21:21 EDT

We sped past the Gotham city limits. The thing was still on its way into the city which meant we needed to get there and fast.

"Should we warn Batman?" Rob asked. "I mean, it is our city and all." I thought for a second, wanting to say both no and yes.

"That would be like admitting defeat, so no. If it looks like we're about to lose, then yes." I replied. I heard the sound of someone running, and turned to see KF running between Robin and I.

"So you changed too?" Rob asked.

"You kidding? I feel naked in civvies." I chuckled. That was such a Kid Flash statement. "You still tracking the parts?"

"They were heading through Gotham, but they veered." Robin said, studying his control monitor. "Wait, Eagle, they're at our school!"

"Oh shit." I responded. Normally I would have gotten mad at Rob for saying something like that, but KF knew our secret IDs , so it was no big deal. "If the school gets blown up, do we have to go back?"

"Really E?" KF countered.

"Oh shut up, you know you hate school too." I responded.

"Can we just speed up?" Rob asked.

"Course, nerd." I revved my engine, then sped up. Robin was right, we probably shouldn't let Gotham Academy be blown to pieces.

We ran into the school minutes later. There was obvious damage in the hall, and we followed it until we reached the gym. KF ran in through the main doors and Rob and I entered through the back. We all had decided to stay back unless necessary. We didn't know who's powers had been copied and to we didn't want to give it any more abilities.

Although I have to say it would be funny to see it doing a back flip like Rob and I do.

We watched as the android announced: "Access: Superman." And then proceeded to pummel Superboy. Just as the thing was about to hit Superboy with all of its power, KF ran in. He said something to the effect of 'Going' as he picked up Superboy and sped him over to where Rob and I stood. Milliseconds later, the robot's arms crashed to the ground where Superboy had been, creating a decent sized hole in the wooden floor.

Once KF and Supes were next to us, Rob and I through explosive birdarangs at him, but the thing just accessed Martian Manhunter and the explosives flew through him. Then he used Red Tornado's powers, flying towards us. We were helpless in the wind. I was thrown face first into the folded bleachers and then gravity pulled me down to the ground, hard.

I winced and squished my eyes closed. But that only made things worse. I groaned from the pain in my forehead. KF was already in a crouched position, the first one of us to have actually moved.

"Access: Captain Atom." The android announced, then charged up its beam, aiming right for KF and I. I knew those things could seriously injure, and possibly kill people. The beam fired.

KF lifted me up and ran to the side. It was then I realized he was carrying me bridal style. He dropped my behind the bleachers and continued running. I knew what that meant. It was a sign to stay out. That I was injured enough.

But I heard the robot use Black Canary's cry, and then return to using Superman's force and I knew I couldn't stay out of this fight. My team needed me. I watched Rob throw birdarangs again, and I watched them fly straight through the android. I swung up to the bleachers. I had to do something! Sure, I was injured, but there was no way I was going to let my teammates get pummeled.

KF was held in a death grip, like cobras do to their prey. He was being crushed with the strength of a Kryptonian. I threw a birdarang.

An arrow flew from next to me. I met the eyes of a girl in green with a long blonde ponytail. If I hadn't know better, I would have said she was related to Green Arrow. I mouthed a thanks and let her run. There was a time and place for finding out who she was. Now, we had an android to defeat.

KF had run as soon as he was dropped. I stayed where I stood above the battle, ready to direct if needed. Rob threw something, but it missed. The android's attention turned to him.

"Access: Superman." But it didn't rush at him, it just seemed to focus. I suddenly knew what was going to happen.

"Robin!" I yelled, desperate. No no no no no!

But KF must have heard my screams, because he sprinted over and carried my brother away. Oh thank god.

"Oh, yawn." Someone else said. I looked around wildly until I spotted someone sitting on the bleachers on the other end of the court. Ivo. "Normally, Amazo would study and mimic your abilities in battle, but what's the point? You're all such poor copies of the originals."

A sudden wave of fury swept over me. I was not a copy. I was not a Batman knock off. I was not weak. I was not going to give up. I was not going to back down.

I was pulling my grappling hook out so I could swing across the roof and take out Ivo, but Superboy beat me to it.

"So everyone keeps saying." He said confidently. He had a plan. I knew it. I put my grappling hook back into my belt and waited. "It makes me angry!" Supes roared, super jumping across the room. He landed right in front of Ivo, making him and his monkeys run for it. "Want to see me channel that anger?" Superboy yelled. I ran down and joined Rob and KF on the gym floor.

"Great, he's gone ballistic again." KF muttered.

"Oh, he hasn't." I replied. "He's just listening to Black Canary. This is going to be fun to watch."

"E, your forehead." Rob sounded worried.

"What?" I asked, confused.

"You're bleeding."

"Oh, whatever." I replied.

"Amazo, protect your master. Priority alpha!" Ivo yelled as he tried to avoid Superboy. Ivo was lifted up by his monkeys, but I ran to him.

"Who wants to play kick the professor?" I asked, then kicked Ivo, sending him flying forwards.

"Oh! Me! Me!" KF yelled, running towards where Ivo had fallen. But Amazo just accessed Superman and hit the gym floor, causing a seismic event that sent Kid Flash flying. Rob threw a birdarang and the android accessed Martian Manhunter. Superboy jumped in front of the machine and stuck his hand into the transparent head.

It accessed Superman.

The android's head exploded, but there was only one thing on my mind. I ran out the way I thought Ivo had, intent on taking him down. But he had disappeared.

"Damn it!" I swore and stomped my foot like a child. I stood there for a few minutes, but then I heard someone approaching.

"He got away?" Aqualad asked.

"Sadly." I responded. "And I didn't even get to blow up my school!" Seconds after I said that, I realized that Aqualad didn't know my secret ID. "But you can't tell anyone that I go to school here."

"That is understandable." He responded. "Is your forehead alright?"

"I'll survive." I replied, then followed him back inside to where the rest of the Team was waiting.

Mount Justice

August 4, 1:06 EDT

"The Amazo android is in pieces again and is safely being analyzed at the two separate Star Labs. But Ivo excaped, and since he originated the tech, he is arguably more dangerous than the android." Aqualad concluded the briefing of our mission.

Black Canary and Martian Manhunter handld our debrief, Batman watching in silence. Once we had gotten back, all of us had been taken to the med bay to have our injuries examined. I thankfully didn't need stitches on my forehead, but even just having a bandaid on it was annoying because it had to wrap all the way around my head to be tied in back. It would not stay on as long as it should, that was for sure.

"Capturing the Professor will be a League priority." Black Canary said.

"But we understand your mission encountered other complications." Martian Manhunter added. I looked at Rob, KF, and Superboy. We were the cause of those complications.

"Complications come with the job."Batman said, walking up to us. He eyed my new injury and I rolled my eyes underneath my mask. "Your ability to handle them has impressed the League." I raised an eyebrow. I was willing to bet Batman was not impressed.

"The whole League?" Superboy asked. I knew he was talking about Superman.

"Given time, yes. As you know, Kryptonians have very hard heads." Supes smiled a bit, and I felt a bit better. It was nice to know that he was feeling better than he was earlier.

"Of course there's no shame in asking for help, that's why the League exists. There's some problems that even we can't handle individually." Batman paused and I knew Robin was going to bring up the arrow.

"Please," Robin scoffed, "If we needed help we'd never get the chance to ask. Look familiar?" He pulled out the arrow as Red Tornado and Green Arrow walked over. "You were following us! Babysitting! You still don't trust us!" Green Arrow took the arrow from Rob's hand.

"We didn't follow you." Batman stated as Green Arrow held the two arrows next to eachother. The tips were different.

"And that's not your arrow." Robin said sheepishly. "But that means-"

"Speedy!" KF had concluded the same thing as Robin. Our teammates looked on in disbelief.

"He has our backs." Aqualad stated. KF ran over and grabbed the arrow from Green Arrow's hand.

"Souvineer!" KF announced. Green Arrow and Batman shared a look. I knew that they knew it wasn't Speedy who had shot the arrow. I stayed with the Team for a bit, laughing and joking around. I really liked everyone else on the team; we all got along very well 95% of the time, and that 5% of the time when we didn't we tried to. They were slowly becoming my second family and I didn't mind.

But soon I got tired and headed back to Gotham, Rob promising to be back there in a half hour. The first thing I did when I walked into the Batcave was peel my mask off. It had been on for a long time, and although I had adjusted it was always nice to have it off. Surprisingly, Bruce hadn't gone out on patrol and was sitting at the computer.

"Emma," Bruce called, his voice echoing in the silence of the cave. "Good job out there today."

"Um, thanks." I responded.

"Has anyone checked your arm yet?"

"No." I pulled my right glove off. My arm had been wrapped in gauze and I began to unwrap it. As I unwrapped the last piece, I breathed a sigh of relief. The stitches were still in place and it seemed to be healing well. "It's doing better."

"Any redness or sign of infection?" Bruce asked, not taking his eyes off the computer screen.

"Nope." I replied.

"Ask Alfred to take them out tomorrow morning. Did your brother say when he would be back?"

"He said within a half hour." I yawned. "I'm changing and going to bed." I walked into my locker room and shut the door behind me. I removed my cape, belt, and skirt first, before removing my leggings, vest, and shirt. I pulled on a top that was three sizes too big and some running shorts before shoving my uniform besides my belt into the laundry chute. I slung my belt over my shoulder and walked back into the cave. Dick had gotten back while I was getting changed.

"You going to bed?" He asked as I hung my belt up on its hook.

"Yup. Night Bruce. Night Dick." I turned and walked up the stairs to the main house. Wayne Manor was kind of eerie at night, but I was used to it. I walked through the hall until I reached the main entry way, where the stairs were. I climbed them and walked into my room.

I curled up under the cover and I was asleep within minutes.

AN: Thanks for all the reviews, follows, and favorites!


	6. Chapter 6

Lone Eagle Chapter 6

Infiltrator

Mount Justice

August 8, 9:58 EDT

It was literally a perfect day in Happy Harbor. The sun was shining, it was warm but not hot, and we were going to the beach with the team. M'gann had run ahead in excitement while Kal, Superboy, Rob, and I had leisurely walked from the Cave doors down to the sand.

"Hello, Megan!" She exclaimed. "We should hit the beach every day!" Robin brought his hand to his forehead.

"First, a moment of silence for our," Rob paused dramatically, "absent comrade."

"Poor Wally." M'gann agreed. In Central City, it was the first day of school. This meant that Wally's summer was over. Thank god Gotham Academy started after Labor Day, I still had a month left of summer!

We spent the morning splashing in the waves, playing tag, and goofing off. I switched my sunglasses for mirrored goggles and went body surfing for a bit. It was great to be able to goof off with my teammates for once without worrying about a mission or training session that we had to go to. We had the day off, and now all training would be moved to the afternoon as Wally had school.

We barbequed hot dogs on the beach for lunch. For once I didn't mind the little bit of sand that always seemed to get in the food you ate on the beach as we were all goofing off. After lunch we got into an intense game of volley ball, girls versus guys, and it was close for once. The guys had the upper hand because there were three of them, but M'gann and I could hold our own pretty darn well.

When Superboy unceremoniously lay down on the ground, Rob grabbed a bucket, filled it with sand, and began to cover him with it. Soon enough, we were all creating a sand pyramid on top of Supes. And he looked hilarious.

By four we were all pretty tired and hit the showers to get the salt and sand out of our hair. I had to use twice as much conditioner as usual to make my hair manageable and even then I didn't try to let it dry normally before I pulled it up into a high ponytail and braid. We were supposed to be in the meeting room in uniform by eight.

Which by Batman time meant 7:55.

So we hung out around the cave for an hour and a half. M'gann had cooked chicken for dinner while I had made a salad, and overall the meal had turned out pretty well. By 5:30 we were all in uniform, the others watching as Rob and I went head to head on Call of Duty. We were both evenly matched because we had both hacked to system so we got all of the good stuff.

Needless to say when the computer announced Batman's arrival, Rob and I just kept on playing while the others went out to the main room. I knew we were getting the batglare, so I shut down the Xbox, ignoring my brother's protests, and walked out to the meeting area.

It seemed we were just in time because once we were in there, the computer announced the arrival of Green Arrow and Artemis. Who the hell was Artemis? But as soon as I saw her, the pieces fell into place. She was the one who had saved us from Amazo. And there was no way she was Green Arrow's niece as she had been in Gotham that night.

And as far as the League's files knew, Green Arrow didn't have a niece.

But I went with it anyway as Batman explained that Artemis would be joining the team. She seemed pretty nice, and it would be good to bring the number of girls up. I liked the guys; don't get me wrong, Rob was my actual brother, KF felt like it, as did Aqualad and now Supes. M'gann was great too, she was energetic and fun, but I hoped that Artemis would be a bit more like me.

I was just about to ask Artemis how long she had been using a bow and arrows when the computer announced the arrival of KF. He had a surfboard-I don't know why, he lives in a landlocked state-, a boom box, an umbrella, and a beach ball. The boom box was playing beachy tunes, and Wally was wearing his swim suit.

"The Wallman is here!" He announced, oblivious to what was going on, "Now let's get this party star-" He tripped over something, and fell to the ground, the beach ball flying out of his grip and bounced over Batman's head as the speedster slid forward. "Ted." He finished, sunglasses askew, looking completely ridiculous compared to the rest of us in uniform.

I held back a laugh and smirked at the speedster. This was something he would do a lot, and I spoke from experience. I doubt he even read the memo that we were needed at the Cave tonight, just came hoping that we all would be here and could go to the beach with him. He was about two hours late for that.

"Wallman, huh?" Artemis said, fake awe dripping from her voice. In that moment, I knew that girl could become my BFF on the team. "Love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?" The disdain was obvious in her voice, and I smiled. Oh yeah, I was so going to get along with this girl.

"Uh, who's this?" Kid Flash asked, standing up and walking over to us. Aqualad and I took a step back so he could walk through.

"Artemis. Your new teammate."

"Kid Flash. Never heard of you."

"Um, she's my new protégé." Green Arrow explained.

"What happened to your old one?" KF asked, sounded surprised. I knew that Wally still hoped that Roy would join the team, and knowing that he wouldn't was horrible for him. They were really close, something they explained by calling themselves 'Ginger Brothers'. Or at least when they were younger. I hadn't had a civil conversation with Roy in a while now, and I did miss him, but I was busy and just never made the time.

The computer cut us off as it recognized Speedy. I knew that would tick Roy off to no end. But what was he doing here? He hadn't joined us, and had pretty much told KF, Aqualad, Rob, and I that the team was for little kids. And now he was here.

I shot a glance at Artemis. IF I knew anything about Roy, then this was not going to be pretty.

"Well for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow." I turned to look at my friend. He was wearing a new uniform, a black tank with a red arrow on it, and black pants. His bow and quiver were red now as well.

"Roy. You look-" Green Arrow started, but was cut off by Red Arrow.

"Replaceable."

"It's not like that, you told me you were going solo." Red Arrow grimaced. If I ever went solo, I was sure it would be similar to how it happened with Red Arrow: an argument with my mentor that escalated. Well, maybe not, as Bats and I seemed to have some huge argument like once a week.

"So why waste time finding a sub?" RA continued, obviously mad. "Can she even use that bow?" During the exchange between Red Arrow and her mentor, Artemis had made her way over to where the two members of the Arrow-Clan were bickering-fighting- whatever.

"Yes. She can." Artemis said, getting up in RA's face in a way that was obviously meant to be obnoxious.

"Who are you?" KF sounded completely frustrated.

"I'm his niece." Artemis said, at the same time as Green Arrow who said "She's my niece." I flared my nostrils. If that had happened in any other situation, that would have been hilarious. Okay, maybe not any other, but you get the point.

"Another niece?" Rob said, smirking. He clearly didn't buy it either, but I elbowed him so he knew to keep quiet.

"But she is not your replacement." Aqualad stated calmly, and walked towards Red Arrow, who turned to face him. "We have always you on the team. And we have no quota on archers."

"No quotas on ninjas either." I added. "There are two of us, and it's all good."

"And if you did, you know who we'd pick." I elbowed KF. "I was talking about archers." He muttered to me.

"Still. Rude." I muttered back.

"Whatever Baywatch." Artemis said. "I'm here to stay."

"Damn it." KF muttered.

"You came to us for a reason." Aqualad stated.

"Yeah," RA responded, "A reason named Dr. Serling ROquette."

"Nano robotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University in Star City. Vanished two weeks ago." Rob said as he looked at files on his holocomputer. The images were transferred to the big holocomputer that was built into the ground of the mission assignments area.

"Abducted two weeks ago." RA corrected. I looked at him, shocked. "By the League of Shadows."

"Whoa." Robin said. I didn't blame him. IF the Shadows wanted you, it was not good. For anyone. "You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?"

"Hardcore." KF murmured, and he and Rob did their little fist bump hand shake thing.

"I already rescued her. Only one problem." Way to kill their hopes and dreams. He walked up to where the images and achievements of the Professor were projected. "The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon.

"Doc calls it the Fog. Comprised of millions of microscopic robots. Nanotech eaters. Capable of obliterating anything in their path; concrete, steel, flesh, bone. But its true purpose isn't mere destruction, its theft. The infiltrators' store raw data from any computer system, and send the data to the Shadows, providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech-"

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking," Artemis said, cutting him off, "Yeah, sounds like the Shadows." I'll admit, I was impressed she knew so much. Either she had done her research or… or she had met with or was close to one of them.

"Like you know anything about the Shadows." KF sounded smug.

"Yeah, but judging by the fact that you know next to nothing it doesn't take that much research to know more than you do." I stated bluntly. The speedster glared at me, but the archer sent a smug look at Wally. She was purposely getting on his nerves now.

"Who are you?" He yelled, but she turned back to face Roy, her long blonde ponytail swinging behind her.

"Roquette's working on a virus to make the fog inert." Red Arrow continued.

"But if the Shadows know she can do that…" I murmured. Things were not looking good for the Doctor, which meant things were not looking good for us.

"They'll target her." RA finished my thought. "Right now she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab."

"You left her alone?" GA asked, sounding shocked.

"Safe enough for now."

"Well then let's you and I keep her that way," GA continued. Artemis looked put off, not that I blamed her.

"You and I?" RA replied snottily. "Don't you want to take your new protégé?" Green Arrow looked like he was going to say something else, but Batman put a hand on the archer's shoulder, wisely silencing him.

"You brought this to the team," GA started, "It's their mission. Which means it's hers now too."

"Well then my job is done here." RA scoffed, and then walked to the Zeta tubes. When it still recognized him as Speedy, he coldly said, "That's Red Arrow, B06. Update." And then was teleported away. We all turned and watched him leave, KF giving Artemis the evil eye.

Happy Harbor

August 8, 1:53 EDT

I was stationed in the halls at Happy Harbor High School, not really doing anything, just patrolling and occasionally checking in via the mind link Miss M had set up a few minutes ago. Artemis had said it was weird, and the doctor had said it was distracting.

I personally thought ROquette was a know it all snob who, if it wasn't for her making this program, I would have let die. Well, maybe not, but I did NOT think she was worth the risk.

We were up against the Shadows. If I see someone from the Shadows while I'm patrolling in Gotham, I'm not allowed to take them on, only trail them, until Bats is either there or near enough to swoop in if I'm losing. I know- I hope- I'm skilled enough to take them on during a head to head battle and win –maybe- but I still need a babysitter.

Thank god for this team. In a way I guess we all baby sit each other, but it's not super obvious. We just look out for each other, like teammates should. Another reason why I love the team, we are close. And getting closer. I would feel like a better teammate if I was allowed to share my secret ID with the others, but Bats has his reasons, and they're sadly good ones.

I tuned out Roquette's rant, and KF's nerdy response. I had worked to do. I knew how to block my mind off, which is exactly what I did, tuning out the others and pretty much pulling myself out of the mind link without actually doing that. I could still hear the others, but it sounded like background music, only faintly there.

_You might want to cut her some slack KF._ I thought, reinserting myself into the conversation as soon as KF and Artemis finished their little spat.

_It was her arrow that saved you from Amazo._ Rob added, literally finishing my thought.

_No it wasn't! It was Speedy's I mean, Red Arrow's arrow._ KF was so in denial right now. It was not even funny. _Right?_

_Not so much._ I thought at the same time as my brother.

_Would you guys stop it with the twin thing?_ Wally thought._ And anyways, still not giving her the satisfaction._

_You know I can still hear you! _ Artemis thought as she walked right past me.

"Ignore him." I advised her, and she jumped.

"Do you always do that appearing out of nowhere thing?" Artemis asked, annoyed.

"No. But seriously: Kid Flash doesn't enjoy change, and he's been friends with Red for years. He'll get used to you. Eventually."

"Oh yeah, eventually," The archer muttered as she walked away, "So soon."

_I couldn't get the Justice League. _The professor thought grumpily. Jeez, what is with everyone and bad moods today?

_The virus won't be of much use if we can't find the weapon._ Aqualad thought. _Can you track it?_

_My utility fog is not a weapon. It's science, brilliant science. And of course I can track it, but I'd have to go online. Might as well rent a billboard with this address and 'Assassinate Me' written in neon. _ROquette replied. I was so over this. So so so over this. I could be patrolling in Gotham now! Knocking out baddies instead of wandering the halls of a high school looking for a threat that shouldn't be able to find us. Aqualad thought something else, and ROquette began tracking the Fog.

_Eagle, will you lead the pursuit of the virus? _Aqualad asked.

_Yeah. Nothing's going on in the halls anyway. _I responded.

_Good. Rendezvous with Superboy and Robin in the front of the school. Miss Martian is reconfiguring the bioship so you can fly it._

_Roger that._ I replied, and then followed the halls to the front of the school. Once I was back out in the cool early August night, I stood in front of Superboy and Robin until the ship was landed and ready. When it was, the three of us ran up the ramp and into the ship. I was suddenly glad that Miss M had taught me how to fly the bioship last week, and I climbed into the pilot's seat that she usually occupied.

I guided the ship into the air and flew it towards Philadelphia, where the Fog was last located. We spent the first half of the ride in silence, until I realized that we had no clue which lab we were going to.

"Rob, can you research where the Fog is most likely to hit next?" I asked, not used to giving my brother orders.

"Yeah."He responded his holocomputer up. I watched as he studied the results. "The only logical option is Star Labs." I flew the ship over to where the cutting edge science center was located, then contacted Aqualad.

"Eagle to Aqualad, we've determined the next target is Star Labs but…" The building was already collapsing, falling to the ground. The outside layers of the walls were gone, and all that was left was a severely weakened steel infrastructure, which was falling. "We're too late."

"It's destroyed, totally destroyed. The Fog decimated it." Rob continued.

"Not to mention that Star Labs is cutting edge science and now the enemy has their secrets. What's our next move?" I added. Star Labs, a University, what could be next? I the ship away from the building and guided it out of the main city and into the outskirts. Rob, Supes, and I sat in silence as we waited for our next command.

If this Fog wasn't destroyed soon, the enemy could have, would have, the same amount of scientific knowledge that we did. That wasn't good. They could discover national secrets, ways to make doomsday devices and… And if they were smart they could infiltrate the Hall of Justice.

Although it was mostly a façade, some of the computers there had access to the Justice League data system, which meant that they could learn the weaknesses of all the superheroes on record. Not to mention secret IDs. I did not want the world knowing that Emmeline Grayson was Eagle.

"We're moving the doctor." Aqualad stated. "We will send you the information as soon as we can."

"Alright. Thanks for keeping us informed." I replied. "So, any guesses as to where the Fog will strike next?"

"Head north." Robin suggested. "New York doesn't have any huge tech companies based there, but the UN is there. And Gotham's home to Wayne Tech which could be a possible target."

"North it is." I turned the ship north and sped it up. If it was a Wayne Tech facility, and we let the information be stolen, Bruce would be so mad. It would not even be funny.

We were over the southern suburbs of Gotham when Aqualad contacted us. The next target was a Wayne Tech facility.

"The next target's a Wayne Tech facility. That's not good. In theory, its systems' software could be used to hack the…" I stopped myself from saying the Watchtower. The less people that knew that, the better. I trusted Supes, but still. It's not just something you blurt out.

"The what?" Superboy asked.

"It's not important. What is though is the fact that Wayne Tech operates in 24 hour workforces. There's no way we can evacuate the building on time." Rob finished for me as I steered the ship towards the ground.

"The code's downloading!" I told the others. We had moved to the back of the bioship, and the hatch was open. We could easily jump out.

"Don't need it!" The Kryptonian yelled, and then jumped out. I could see the guy who was going to let the fog out. Superboy jumped on him, but was hit down by something.

And the Fog was released from its containers.

Without thinking, I jumped out of the bioship and, using grappling hooks swung my way towards the doorway of Wayne tech. There was no way I was letting them take this technology. This was personal. And I was not going to let them mess with that. I jumped through the hole in the glass that Fog had created. Robin was right behind me.

"Hey!" the security guard yelled as we ran past him. "You can't come in here!" He must have turned on the lockdown because the next thing I knew, the metal bars that was positioned above the hall that went down during lockdowns began its descent.

"Wayne Tech Override EG5!" I yelled, and the bars began to lift. I slid underneath them, and was up and running as fast as I could seconds later. Robin caught up to me a few seconds later and we ran into the cafeteria.

The Fog floated right below the ceiling of the café as I ran over and hooked my holocomputer up to the computer on the cash register.

"Please be linked to the mainframe." I muttered. "Please be linked to the mainframe." The antivirus was downloading, faster than I thought it would, but for all I knew it would be too slow. Rob stood behind me, our eyes trained on the progress bar. It was still moving steadily, possibly fast enough to pull it off. Once the bar reached 100%, I turned.

The Nano robots that made up the Fog had turned red and were falling to the ground.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, then high-fived my brother.

"The infiltrators have been outfiltrated." He remarked, and I smiled. We walked out of the building towards back the bioship. Superboy was waiting for us, his shirt ripped, but other than that he was unharmed.

The three of us climbed back into the ship and headed back towards Happy Harbor, even though I knew debrief wouldn't be until tomorrow morning. It was past midnight, and Bats was usually kind enough to let us sleep. I bet he wouldn't even be at the Cave when we got back; he was probably on patrol around Gotham.

I'll admit, I was surprised that we hadn't seen him while we were taking out the Fog at Wayne Tech. Batman was usually extra careful when a Wayne Cooperation building was threatened. But at the same time, I was glad that he had stayed away for once.

It was past 1 AM when we got back to the Cave, and everyone had left besides Aqualad who was waiting for us, book in hand and his chest wrapped. He must have had a bad encounter with one of the assassins.

"Mission debrief is tomorrow morning at ten." Kal stated. "Until then, get some rest and good job." Robin and Superboy just nodded and went their separate ways, Rob to the zeta tubes and Gotham, while Supes went to his room in the cave.

"You alright?" I asked Aqualad.

"I will be fine." I nodded and turned to the zeta tubes. "See you tomorrow morning." I added before teleporting back to the BatCave.

As I had thought, Batman was nowhere to be found, so I headed to my locker room and changed into PJs. Once I had changed, I hung my utility belt back up on its hook and headed upstairs to the main house. I walked quietly through the hall and headed up the stairs. Once I was in my room, I set my alarm for 9:00, and got into bed. I was asleep within a few minutes.

But my dreams brought back old memories, none of them pleasant. I was standing on the trapeze platform at Haley's Circus, watching my parents and brother perform their act. That was my first sign something was wrong. I looked up, and saw the wire become even more undone. I turned back to my family to yell to them to get off, but before I could speak, it snapped. Frozen in place, I watched them fall.

I screamed from where I stood, still stuck on the platform. But it got worse from there. All of my friends were suddenly below me, telling me how they hated me, how useless I was, how I should have fallen with them. Bruce was there as well, telling me how much better Dick was.

I forced myself awake, breathing hard. I sat up, my hair in my face. I hated that dream. It was reoccurring nightmare; I had it about once a week, sometimes more. And even then, it still made me feel so insignificant, so horrible.

It was only six in the morning, so I forced myself back to sleep, and it was thankfully dreamless.

**AN: Sorry this is a bit late, I got a new laptop! Thanks for all of the reviews, they make my day!**


	7. Chapter 7

Lone Eagle

Chapter 7: The Pit

Gotham City

August 19, 16:10

Paramore blared from my iHome as I read Great Expectations for school. Gotham Academy was great 90% of the time; I was allowed into all of the advanced classes, the teachers knew that I was smart and needed an extra challenge sometimes, and most of the people were decent. Of course, there were a few that I hated and that hated me, but that was no big deal. I would have made enemies at any school I had gone to.

I wasn't as focused on the book as I should have been, not that it mattered much, we'd spend a week or two reviewing it in the beginning of the year so if you could write a basic summary on it sometime in the first week of school, you'd get an A. I was pretty sure half of the class just read a summary of it from online the weekend before and they still did well. It was a flawed system, but most systems are flawed I guess.

My phone vibrated, and I grabbed it. Babs had texted me telling me that she could possibly come over sometime next week. I hoped we could. I hadn't seen her since school let out, and that was two months ago. I hoped we wouldn't have to post pone again because of my missions with the Team. That had happened once already and I didn't like lying to her.

Babs didn't know that I was Eagle. I wasn't allowed to tell her. Wally only knew because he was in the business and when we had first met him, Dick had been having a rough time fitting in at school. Bruce only allowed him to tell Wally so he would have a friend with and without the mask. Granted, Dick still hung out with Babs and I at school from time to time when he complains that his mathlete friends are 'too geeky', but I'm used to it. We spend so much time together already, it doesn't matter if we spend an extra hour or so together at school.

I replied to my best friend, promising to find out. That was another good thing about that, I would have an idea of what day(s) we would have missions, which was always nice. Actually, Bruce probably wouldn't tell me and just say to wait and see which annoyed me to no end. I hated surprise events and similar things that messed up the plans that I had made for the day. It was one of my many pet peeves.

I turned my attention back to the book. Oh how I wanted to procrastinate even more. But Dick had spent the first week of vacation doing all of his homework while I had goofed off, and my mistake was reaping its consequences now. He was training while I was stuck upstairs. Bruce has a rule that we can't do anything until our homework was done, and although it hadn't applied to the summer so far, now it was starting to, as school started in a month.

All I had to do was read this book. I would have loved to read it if I wasn't forced to, but since I was it was horrible. I'm that was with a lot of stuff. Like I love to run, but in PE it's horrible.

Another one of my pet peeves: being forced to do shit.

But I forced myself to continue reading, although it was horrible. It's summer! We should be allowed to goof off and do nothing and let our brains rot. Okay, maybe not that last one, but seriously. Summer was a break, not a learning experience.

"Miss Emma," Alfred said, opening the door, "you're wanted in the Bat Cave."

"Thanks." I replied. Once he was back in the hallway, I did a silent victory dance. I didn't have to finish the book! Or at least right now. I put in my bookmark, and made my way to the Bat Cave.

Batman and Robin were already down there and ready; so I got changed as fast as possible. I hated being the last one ready; it made me feel like I was slowing them down. Once I had everything on, I ran back into the main part of the cave and grabbed my utility belt before standing behind the Bat Computer.

"We'll be flying the Bat Plane to Cape Canaveral. Ra's Al Ghul has planted something on a rocket set to be sent into orbit at 21:00 today. Our goal is to remove the object that was placed on the rocket before it is set to take off." With that, Batman got up and walked over to the Bat Plane. I stared at the screen for a few seconds, trying to retain as much information as possible by skimming it. I didn't get much.

"Road trip." Robin sang as he headed up the stairs to the hangar.

"Oh yeah. Just what I needed." I muttered sarcastically. I seriously hated being stuck in any of the Bat ways of getting around with the other two for periods of time greater than an hour. Both of the, especially Robin, tended to do things to annoy me. Scratch that, Robin did things to annoy me, Bats just silently flew the plane.

I took the metal stairs two at a time and climbed up into the hatch of the plane. It was closed behind me seconds later as I made my way into my co-pilot's chair. The one good thing about going places in the Bat plane was that I got to work in an actual airplane. I was working on getting a pilot's license – I was actually farther ahead than Rob was – but in those classes I was still only working in simulators. My teacher told me that by Christmas I would have piloted a plane for the first time.

I didn't have the heart to tell her that one time Batman let me fly the Bat plane for an hour or so. It was one of the best things I've ever done and one of the most fun as well. Not to mention I can pilot the bio ship, but that's different.

"Clear for takeoff." Alfred's voice sounded through the plane. Batman flipped the necessary switches, and we were off, speeding down the runway until we were up in the sky again. Once we were at cruising altitude, Bats handed Rob and I our comm links, and we stuck them in our ear. We were all linked to each other, and to the Bat cave.

There was a camera that sent live feed to the Bat cave, so Alfred was our fourth set of eyes on most of our out of Gotham missions. Although he may have never gone on patrol with us, the butler had once been a member of the British Secret Service, so we all listened to his advice.

Not to mention it was the first Bat Rule: Alfred's word was law. You never argued with him. I never had and didn't plan on it. Most of the time, if I had a bone to pick with someone it was Bruce.

I turned my focus back to the control systems. I was copilot, and although that truthfully meant I didn't have to do much, there was still stuff I was responsible for.

Cape Canaveral

August 19, 20:30 EDT

"Execute plan 84." Batman commanded from where we were crouched behind a truck that had once held fuel for the rocket. Not it lay empty, the orange nozzle that had allowed the gas to be put in the fuel tanks hung discarded on the ground.

I darted around to the back of the truck to assess the situation for a few seconds before I launched into action. Plan 84 was relatively simple: Distract the goons/henchmen/whoever until Batman gives us the signal to cover for him and he goes in to get/protect whatever while Rob or I take out the rest of the goons while the other one watches Bat's back. I know these plans like I know the quadratic formula; I can say them in my sleep.

I ran at one of the guards hired by Ra's, not yelling a battle cry or for vengeance, just a silent stealthy run. Once I was a few feet away, I went into a front handspring and pushed off with my hands, my feet connecting with his chin and pushing him back. I landed and waited for the next one to rush me. One did, and I forced him down with a right hook to the nose and a hard punch in the stomach.

I ran at another one of Ra's guards, but this guy was smarter than the others and wasn't taken by surprise like the first one had been. He tried to punch me in the face, but I ducked and stuck a foot out, tripping him as he threw all his momentum towards me when I wasn't even there.

I rolled, narrowly avoiding a guy who tried to step on me, and got back up on my feet as soon as I could. The henchmen who tried to step on me advanced again, running at me. I flipped over him, and pushed off his head, sending him falling forwards as I flipped and landed behind him. I ran at the advancing group of new guards, probably order to go after us.

"I need to get to that rocket." Batman ordered from where he was engaging four of the guards.

"Roger that." Rob replied, and I knew that he was jumping into the fray with Batman to run distraction. "I'll run interference." My brother remarked and I knew I was right. I flipped over a guard and forced him down with a kick to his back and then joined Robin in the main fray.

"Are you covering for him or am I?" I asked as I punched one of the henchmen.

"You cover do here and I'll make sure he doesn't get in trouble on top?" Rob suggested.

"Perfect." I muttered, then flipped over a goon and ran over to where Batman was engaging someone who I vaguely recognized as an assassin for the League of Shadows. I ran the long way around to the back of the truck where we had been told the plan, and just as I got back there, Batman allowed himself to be pinned to the truck.

Smirking, I grabbed the orange piping attached to the truck and loped it around the assassin's leg. I pulled out a birdarang and just before I lodged it in the gas pedal, I yelled "Now!" to Batman. He swiftly kicked the assassin, and watched as he was carried away by the truck, which I back flipped out of at the last second. I hit the ground running.

As soon as I ran back to the other side of where the truck used to be, Batman gave me a look that said I would be getting a lecture on something when we got back to the Cave. I motioned for him to go up to the ship and ran back to help Robin take down what I hoped was the last of the henchmen.

"Bats all good?" He asked as I ran back into the battle.

"Yup." I replied as I took down the last guard with a kick in the stomach. "Now what?" I asked.

"Um…" Rob pointed to where Batman stood at the bottom of the scaffolding that held the rocket in place. Talia al Ghul was shooting at him.

"Shit." I replied. Talia was the only villain Bats had issues fighting, mainly because he had feelings for her. She was shooting at him, which was rare, because she had feelings as well, which was… annoying to say the least.

"Robin to Batcave. You seeing this?" Rob's voice echoed as I heard him say it in real life and in the comm link.

"Unfortunately, yes." Alfred replied. "I have a front row seat."

"Plan?" I asked Rob.

"You got one?"

"You go up there and get the thing out of the rocket, and I run defense down here?" I suggested.

"Perfect." I watched as Robin ran around the far side of the rocket to get to the other scaffolding so he could hopefully get up there without being seen and get whatever was in the rocket that wasn't supposed to be out.

I waited until I saw Batman up on the rocket and Robin in the scaffolding before moving to make sure Talia didn't try anything. I doubted she would, a rarity in the villains we fought, but slightly welcomed. I hadn't exactly had the best experiences with the heir to the League of Shadows – she had tried to recruit me multiple times.

It first happened when I was 10 and was first allowed to patrol on my own as long as I had a comm in. If Batman or Alfred as much as suspected I had taken it out, Batman would be by my side within minutes and I would be forced to work with him for the rest of the night. Even though I was 10, I had resented being forced to stay by Batman's side while on patrol. It didn't make since most of the time because it left ground open and Robin more vulnerable to attack if enemies realized that Batman was with me, therefore less likely to be close to his other protégée.

I had been on my own, and planned on staying that way; I reported my location to the others every ten minutes or so. It had been going well, and I had just finished stopping a mugging from happening when I first met Talia. I had heard stories of her before, mainly to _stay away _and _call for backup immediately_. The confrontation had begun as soon as I was on the roof. She had most likely seen me take down the mugger, or been drawn by the sound of confrontation.

Needless to say, when I realized who it was on the other side of the roof of the building, I had gotten into a battle position, my left hand near my utility belt so I could draw out any weapons I thought I might need, my right arm out a bit, prepared to block any attacks. But the attack hadn't come.

"So the rumors were right. There are two wonders, and one of them is a girl." I bit back a snarky retort about how the shadows must really be in the dark, as I had been patrolling for more than a year now, but I didn't. There was no way I was risking it. "No need to prepare for a fight that isn't come Eagle." Talia had added. I had stayed in the same position, glaring at the Shadow.

"I'm fine like this." I had growled. Talia had just smirked a bit.

"I bet you are. But I'm not here to fight."

"Well then I'll be off, as I can't exactly arrest you for standing." I had retorted.

"I didn't come here just to stand; I have an offer for you." Wait what was going on now? I remember thinking. I had been so confused at that moment. "I came to offer you a place in the Shadows. You would be trained by the best and, with time, become one of our best operatives." I was shocked. Okay, so here I was, a hero, and she was asking me to switch sides?

"You have potential," Talia had continued, "You would receive more honor and appreciation with the League of Shadows then you do with Batman." I'll admit, I had been tempted. Even from that age, I had noticed that Bruce had slightly preferred my brother, but I couldn't say yes. Bruce had taken me in when my parents had died. If he hadn't, I would be in one of the orphanages in Gotham, which were not known for their kindness. And I had promised my mother that I would never kill, and if I joined the Shadows, I would be breaking a promise to her. That would never happen.

"Pass." I had responded, and jumped off the edge of the building and onto the next, just trying to get as far away as possible. In my hurry to get away, I must not have checked in, because just as I was stopping what looked like it would have become a kidnapping, Batman had appeared behind me, causing the would be criminals to scatter. I must have looked really frazzled, because he had given me one of those looks that said we would be talking about what happened when we got back to the BatCave. But we never did. Bruce tried to get me to talk about what happened, but I refused every time.

There was no way I was letting him down by saying that I had almost joined the Shadows. I wasn't going to tell him three years ago, I wasn't going to tell him now.

But every time I had faced off with Talia, or Batman had, she had always managed to make sure I knew that the offer was still open – even though there was no way I was going to accept it. I was still unnerved by it every time it happened though, a reminder that one time I had almost said yes. Even though I had once been asked when I was completely fed up with Batman and his rules, I had still turned her down. Stubbornness kept me in place, although I knew one day stubbornness might just get me out of my place.

"Everything good up there?" I asked Batman and Robin through my earpiece. Since I didn't get an answer or a call for backpack, I assumed it was, and waited under the iron bars that held the rocket in place.

"Eagle," Talia addressed me. "Have you reconsidered?" I stepped out of the shadows a bit.

"Never thought about it. Don't need to though, my answer will never change." I responded.

"One day that will change Emma. Maybe not soon, but one day." I cringed, and moved back towards the shadows. The al Ghuls were the only villains who knew our secret IDS. Ra's had pieced it together because he wanted Batman to become his heir of sorts, which I thought was unnecessary as he was practically immortal. But it always unnerved me when one of them called us our normal names while we were wearing our masks.

Not that many people knew our secret IDs. And when we were in the mask, we didn't think of each other as Bruce, Dick, and Emma, but Batman, Robin, and Eagle. It kept us safe as well as our friends. The only person on the Team who knew our secret ID was Wally. We weren't allowed to tell the others. Most of the League knew though, Roy did as well, but other than that no one else knew. It was for their protection and ours.

Most of the Leaguers' IDs weren't well known, we were the only ones, except for Green Arrow, Red Arrow, and Black Canary. IF someone somehow found out say, the Flash's secret ID, it would be no big deal for Barry Allen to disappear. But if Bruce Wayne and his wards disappeared, it would make national news. Anyway, the less people who knew the better.

I watched someone fall from the top, and inside I freaked out. If it was Robin or Batman who was falling, I didn't know what I would do. But when I saw it was Ra's I felt a bit relieved. It makes me sound horrible, but he'll be dipped in his Lazarus Pit and be alive again within a day or two. Which I found kind of annoying because the dead are meant to stay dead, it's the way life is.

I watched as the assassin from earlier carried Ra's al Ghul to the waiting helicopter, Talia trailing behind. The sun was setting, and it was quite pretty, and I watched it while I waited for Bats and Rob to come down.

"Master Bruce, Master Dick, Miss Emma, I have an emergency alert from Red Tornado. Kent Nelson has passed." I raised my eyebrows in surprise. Kent Nelson had been Doctor Fate, but had retired a few years ago. I had never met him, but from what I heard, he was a good man, with or without the Helmet of Fate. I stayed beneath the scaffolding, and just thought.

One day I knew I was going to die, heck it could be any day in this line of work, but this was going to be the first funeral I had gone to for a hero. In my four years patrolling the streets, not a single hero or member of the Justice League had died. Which was good, I guess, but I didn't know what to expect for this one. The last funeral I had gone to was my parents', and that day was one of the worst in my life. It was just a tear filled blur that ended with Bruce taking Dick and I to the Manor for the first time.

That had probably been the only good part of that day.

Batman and Robin had finally made their way down from the top, and I walked out to join them. We made our way to the Batplane in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. Not that I really minded, silence was welcome. Especially now, when I wasn't even sure if I could from a coherent sentence to say how I felt. I was glad once we were in the Batplane and flying north towards Gotham, focusing on the plane's altitude, engine power, and the like made it harder for me to get lost in my head, like I tended to do when I got bad news.

It was nearly midnight when we got back to Gotham. Alfred was waiting in the Batcave, and informed us that dinner was in the fridge in the kitchen and if we were hungry we could heat it up. I just nodded in response, and hit the showers, glad that I had been allowed to not patrol tonight. Technically, that morning as it was past midnight. I stood under the hot water for a few minutes, stretching my shoulders as the water ran down my body. I relaxed for the first time since I got in the Batplane early this afternoon, and yawned. I dried off, not bothering to brush my hair as I would most likely wake up in the morning, work out, and then shower again. I pulled on my PJs, old running shorts and a plain tank top, and walked up the stairs to the main house.

I headed into the kitchen, not even bothering to turn on any lights in the house as I walked there. I was used to doing this, coming home late at night and having dinner in the morning, so the darkness didn't bother me, and neither did the notion of having breakfast while most people were sound asleep. I flipped on the light in the kitchen though, and grabbed a bowl of spaghetti and meatballs from the fridge before putting it in the microwave for two minutes. I waited in silence, shutting the microwave off a second before it was supposed to go off so it wouldn't beep.

I quickly ate the meal, then rinsed out the bowl and placed it and my silver ware in the dishwasher. I fought to stay awake as I shut off the kitchen light and walked up to my room. Once in bed, I fell asleep almost instantaneously.

Salem

August 21, 16:07 EDT

"Kent Nelson did not require a magic helmet to be a hero," Red Tornado began. It was pouring rain as we stood outside for Kent Nelson's funeral. The weather matched everyone's mood, sad and somber. More than half the League was there, plus some of the retired heroes, like the original Flash, had come as well. "Kent dedicated his life- gave his life- to safeguard this work from evil. May he finally find rest with his beloved Inza." The android finished.

Kent Nelson had died protecting the Helmet of Fate from Klarion the Witch Boy and Abra Kedabra. Red Tornado had sent Artemis, KF, Miss Martian, and Superboy to find him, which they had, and to report back. Kid Flash had put on the Helmet of Fate, and almost hadn't gotten out. But they had saved the Helmet, which was good I guess, but they hadn't saved Kent.

Once the ceremony was over, I walked over to KF.

"Hey." I said simply.

"Hi." He responded, and I knew he didn't want to talk that much so I just hugged him.

"I know you probably feel bad cuz you were there, but it gets better." I whispered to him. The speedster smiled in response.

"I have to go, but I'll text you later alright?"

"Anytime bro." I responded, and walked over to where Robin was waiting for me.

"How's he holding up?" My brother asked me. I sighed.

"He's doing better than he might have been." I responded. "I mean, he watched him die, so it could be worse I guess."

"Yeah. Batman said we could head back without him."

"Let's get out of the rain then. I'm freezing." I led the way over to the Zeta station, which had thankfully cleared out by now, and typed in the coordinates for the Batcave, then, stepped into the portal and was teleported back to Gotham.

The first thing I did when I was back in the Batcave was change into a pair of sweats and a tee shirt. It was raining in Gotham as well, and I planned on staying in the entertainment room all day and watching Cake Boss. I grabbed my fluffiest blanket from my bed and carried it down to the media room. I curled up on one of the fluffy couches and turned on the TV, so ready for a day of laziness.

* * *

**AN: Sorry this is late. I'm not sure if I love or hate this; it's written off of one of the comics which is new for me. Thanks for all the reviews, favorites, follows, and even views! This story has gotten over a thousand views and visits, which is the biggest of any of the stories I've written! So thanks so much everyone! Look for an update next Tuesday!**


	8. Chapter 8

Lone Eagle

Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I don't own**

**AN: An FYI: This is a combination of Pendulum, Penalty (comics), and Downtime.**

Gotham City

August 26, 08:15 EDT

"So what's this about Lucius?" Bruce asked his second in command as he studied the barrel. Dick and I with Bruce at Wayne Enterprises because Bruce thought that we weren't being 'productive' around the house. This meant that we were going to do meaningless work all day ferrying papers and messages between Bruce and his top executives. There were worse things we could be doing, but I was already plotting on ways to get out of work and we hadn't even made it to Bruce's office yet.

"Not sure Bruce, this arrived addressed to you. No return address." Lucius responded. _This_ happened to be what appeared to be a giant metal jar. I had no clue what was in it, I was as puzzled as Bruce was, but I didn't show it. Instead I checked Instagram, absently liking the pictures as I listened to the conversation.

"Has it been scanned?"

"Post 9/11? Of course. But it appears to be… mud. Nothing toxic, explosive, or radioactive just mud. Or perhaps clay." I fiddled with the left eyepiece on my sunglasses, activating the hidden X-ray vision mode. I loved these sunglasses for that reason- they had things built into them. It was then that I noticed the container was starting to shake. I took a small step back, and reminded myself to _not under any circumstances engage something while in civilian attire_.

A thing, that looked like it was made of mud, burst from the container with a "Raarr" or something like that. Once the thing began to attack the other people in the building, I took off to the closest janitor's closet. I pulled my clothes off; thankful Bruce had made me wear my uniform under my clothes today. I slipped on a skirt that I had stashed in the janitor's closet ahead of time and grabbed the spare cape and mask that were also in here. I pulled on my cape, stuck a mask on, and ran into the hall. Batman and Robin were a few yards in front of me, so I sprinted and caught up just as we launched ourselves at the creature. But it squirted mud at us and I went flying through the front windows. Glass flew everywhere as I landed in the middle of the street a few feet away from my brother.

I heard the creature ask something, but didn't really bother to comprehend it as I jumped back to my feet, just as the mud thing began to attack the oncoming traffic. Batman mouthed the word 'taster' and Robin and I pulled out our taser ropes, and the three of us simultaneously shot at the beast. The electricity seemed to hurt the thing a bit, or at least get its attention, as it turned towards us.

"Really thought he'd be a little less sheveled after that…" Rob muttered right before the thing turned and threw a muddy arm towards us. The three of us jumped back just before it slammed its arm onto the ground, splattering mud everywhere. But it didn't only do that- it shot mud out of its back right at Rob, Bats and I. We were pushed against the outside wall of Wayne Enterprises; down as the mud creature disappeared into the sewers.

"Oh I am so not in the mood for sewer hopping." I muttered as I stood. I was covered in mud, and it was beginning to dry, caking on my skin and cracking as I moved. I didn't have to look to know that my back would be covered with bruises from being slammed against and through a window, then through a wall a few minutes later. God, I was so not having a good day.

I stood and watched as Batman took a sample of the mud, probably to study so he could figure out how to stop the mud creature. I tried to get the mud off, but it wasn't coming off very easily, which bugged me to no end. Robin was trying to do the same, but having minimal success like I was. Batman stood, signaled for us to follow him, and then called the Batplane. We climbed in behind him, and watched as he called the Cave. Great. Now the Team was getting involved in our failure. That would end well – not. They didn't know the Gotham ways, how to behave, not to mention, they had powers.

Super powers were a taboo in Gotham. Our villains didn't have powers, and we, the heroes, didn't either. It was a delicate balance, one that we fought to keep by not letting _any_ heroes besides the three of us in Gotham without our explicit permission. And when one was invited, it showed the confidence Bats had in them. Which was why I was surprised that the Team was being told to come to Gotham, especially since we were still relatively new. The six of us hadn't even been working together for two months yet, and the rest of them were being given access to a city most heroes don't see in uniform for years. Then again, we would be in the sewers.

"Attention, Team." Batman said, snapping me out of my thoughts and back into reality. "Take a Zeta-Tube to Gotham City immediately and rendezvous with Robin and Eagle at theses coordinates."

"What is the mission?" Aqualad asked. The rest of the Team looked a bit nervous. They had probably heard stories about our criminals- and trust me, they weren't fairytales.

"Shouldn't we wait for Artemis?" KF asked. I fought the urge to mock him, as the speedster 'hated' the archer, but I thought that he might have a crush on her. I wasn't 100% sure, only 60%. It would be interesting to find out where she was- I could probably find out by looking through the files in the Batcave.

"Don't wait, there's a creature loose in my city." Batman snapped. He did not take losing well, not that I blamed him. I was the exact same way. Not to mention my annoyance about the mud, and the fact that I would most likely end up trampling through the sewers for a few hours. Just a perfect way to cap off a horrible day.

"If it's your city, why are we hunting it?" Superboy asked, sounded as annoyed as I did. Cuz we got owned Supey. But there's no way we're admitting it because we're the Dynamic Trio and we don't admit weakness. Another Bat rule: never admit your weaknesses. The battle is never lost until you're dead or dying. I live by that rule. If you at least act strong, people will believe it.

"You are not hunt it, or engage. Track it until I return with the solution." And with that, Batman turned the screen off. He turned to Rob and me. "I sent the coordinates to your holocomputers. Get there fast and wait for the Team before moving. Do not- I repeat- Do not engage. If it tries to engage, get away. We don't know how to fight it, which means we will not fight it. Understood?" My brother and I nodded, before climbing out of the Batplane and back onto the streets. The dark, gooey, mud stuck to me everywhere and cracked as I moved. Ugh, I hated the feeling of mud on my skin. I hated knowing that we were going to be running around the sewers for a few hours as well. That was always the worst. Gotham sewers weren't only dirty, but every once in a while you ran into a homeless person who had decided that the sewers were a good place to live, and that was never pleasant.

Robin and I walked in silence towards our coordinates, sticking to the alleys and shadows. If we had stayed on the main road, we would have been attacked by the press, wanting a statement, asking questions, and just being annoying. Not to mention we'd have to fight through crowds and people that would ask for pictures with us. No, we avoided the main streets at all costs. The alleys were small, but provided a pretty good way to get around if you could navigate them.

Our coordinates were right on top of a big sewer entrance. I knew from my time spent studying Gotham maps that this was the center of the sewage pipes- this was the center of the Gotham sewage system, even though it wasn't the center of the city. From here, it branched into eight different tunnel systems. Batman had put a note on our coordinates as well, advising us to follow the tunnel heading northwest, the direction we would go to get back to Wayne Enterprises, where we started, and to the underground generators that powered about a quarter of the downtown area. If you wanted to cause havoc in the sewers and the city, you went there. The generators had been targeted before, and I wouldn't be surprised if they were targeted again.

Rob and I waited in the shadows of the alley, but we didn't have to wait long. About two minutes later, the team minus Artemis showed up. Although I hadn't been working with the archer for long, we were pretty good friends already. We both were sarcastic and enjoyed bugging Kid Flash – she did it because she didn't like him, I did it because he reacted in the funniest ways. We stepped out into the sunlight as they approached.

"Eagle, Robin. Have you already faced this creature that we are tracking?" Aqualad asked, eloquent as always.

"Yeah," I responded, "It's the reason we're muddy."

"The creature is made of some sort of mud or clay," Robin continued, providing more information, "It can shoot mud at anything, regrow body parts, and is resistant to everything we've thrown at it."

"Engaging it is pretty much pointless until Bats comes back with a solution." I concluded.

"Where is it?" KF asked. "It's not here, that's for sure."

"It's there." Robin said, and pointed down.

"On the ground?" Superboy asked, incredulous.

"No. In the sewers." I responded, and threw the cover off. I made a face before jumping down into the muck of the Gotham sewers. I groaned, and fought the urge to plug my nose. "It's not that much of a fall." I called up to the others as I moved to the small walkway on the side of the tunnel. The rest of the Team joined me in the muck; Robin jumped down last and put the cover back in place. "Batman suggested we head through that tunnel," I said, pointing to the closest tunnel that would lead us northwest. "Lead on Aqualad." I let the Atlantean step ahead of me, and lead the way down the tunnel.

"Miss Martian, can you link us up?" Aqualad asked.

_Everyone online? _Miss M's voice echoed in my head. It had hurt a lot the first time, but by now I was used to it.

_Yeah._ I responded. KF, Robin, and Supes responded similarly, but Aqualad hadn't responded yet.

_Aqualad!_ Miss M thought. _Are you linked?_

_Oh, yes, Miss Martian, your psychic link functions perfectly._ Aqualad responded a few seconds later.

_That's a relief. We couldn't here you. It was like your every thought was a million miles away._ Miss M responded. Aqualad was distracted, that was not good, but I trusted that he could pull it together for the mission. He was a great leader, and I had faith in him. We continued down the tunnel, walking in a line, just watching for any sign of the creature. But it was mud; it would easily blend into the mucky liquid that flowed through the sewers.

We walked in silence for what felt like hours, but truthfully could have only been minutes. I had let my mind wander as we walked, thinking about all the things I could be doing if I wasn't stuck making my way through this god forsaken sewer. I hated it down here, in the dark, damp, smelly tunnels. I could be reading, training, heck, even arguing with Bats would be better than being down here, but down in the sewers I was, and would stay until Batman _**hurried up and found a goddamn way to kill this mud thing**_.

Suddenly, I was forced to the wall by a wall of mud. Shit. There goes not engaging. It had engaged us, so I guess it was different, but still. Then again, I shouldn't be saying much because half the time I went out of my way to break Bat's rules.

It formed a fist around my stomach, and lifted me into the air. I fought to escape its grip, but I couldn't even reach my weapons – the hand holding me held most of my midsection in place. It had down the same thing to the others, but Aqualad was able to reach his water bearers and hack the hand off. Superboy was still punching the thing, and Miss M was trying to force it away from her. I kicked wildly like they tell you to do if you're being kidnapped (not that it works unless it's a guy and you hit em where guys don't want to be hit- sadly I speak from experience) but I wasn't making any real effort.

Thankfully, Rob must have stuck an exploding disk in each of his gloves, because one blasted me free. I fell to the floor of the sewer, the gross water going up to my knees, and splashing towards my face from my landing. I made a face, Batman so owed me for this. The others had worked their way free was well, and the creature had dissipated. Hopefully permanently.

"That was unpleasant," Miss M remarked from where she floated above us, "Like tangling with a rabid Ma'alefa'ak on Mars."

"Unpleasant sure," KF added, standing up, "But kinda easy. That thing was a pushover. What the heck was Batman worried about?"

"What's a malafak?" Supes asked.

Then, I was being hit with a blast of mud for the third time that day. I groaned internally, not wanting to open my mouth and risk the mud or sewer water getting in. I was forced to the ground of the tunnel, the water still running by me, gross as ever. My hair was soaking wet. Ew, ew, ew, ew. My hair! I was going to have to use a bottle of shampoo to get all this gunk out of it. Batman owed me big time.

The being cackled as it walked off. I wanted to do nothing more than to strangle it.

"Batman to Team. Report status. Have you encountered the creature?" I had forgotten that I had put in a comm link earlier. Aqualad answered for the Team.

"Yes, Batman. Though the encounter was far from successful."

"Tell me everything that has occurred. I want details."

"If that's Batman," KF said, sounding angry, "Ask him where Artemis is? And how come she gets away with skipping this so-fun sewer party?" If I hadn't been in such a bad mood, I would have cracked up and laughed my head off. But I was tired, sore and covering in gross stuff which did not equal a good mood. I just wanted this creature to be contained and fast.

**xXx**

"Man, I need a shower," KF complained. "I mean, what's the point of putting on a clean costume when I'm not even fresh?" Miss M had called the bioship to Gotham and we were using it as a place to strategize and wait for orders. Not to mention, Miss M had thought ahead and put extra uniforms for us in the ship. All of us had taken turns changing into clean uniforms – except for Superboy, who didn't have one.

"Oh, Wally, you're always fresh." Miss M said, trying to make him feel better.

"At least you have a clean costume." Supes muttered.

"Yeah, an old back up!" Kid Flash whined. "No stealth mode! IT stinks!"

"Actually, I think the stink is you freshness. But what about the creature?" Rob asked. "Batman wanted us to track it."

"Why settle for that?" our resident speedster asked, sounding frustrated. "Okay, sure, it got the drop on us, but now we know its tricks!"

"Yeah!" Rob agreed. "We split up! Then, whoever finds old 'Clayface' radios the team,"

"We converge and kick some clay-butt!" Superboy finished.

"What do you think Aqualad?" Miss M asked.

"What? Oh. Yes." The Atlantean responded. "It seems we have a plan."

A few minutes later, we were once again in the sewers, but as the tunnel branched off, so did we. First, Superboy, then Miss M, then KF, and Aqualad until it was just my brother and I left. The tunnel broke into two ahead.

"Hopefully next time I see you, we'll be on the surface." Rob remarked.

"Bats owes me big time." I muttered. Robin just walked down the tunnel on the left, but I could hear his laugh echo as I moved forward. I seriously hated this. I seriously hated being alone. Scratch that, I hated being alone without my music or being able to look for someone to beat up. I guess I was looking for something to beat up, but the only thing in here was the creature. Even though Bats had told us not to engage… and to stick together.

"Shit." I muttered, and spun. This was not good, why didn't I _listen_ to Batman for once. And we weren't mentally linked, and I didn't want to risk talking if the creature was near. I suddenly started freaking out. I was in an enclosed area, it was dark, and I was alone. Not to mention I hadn't followed orders, nor had I spoken up when I should have. I started to hyperventilate a bit. Every nerve in my body was screaming for me to run and find the others before the creature got to us, only my brain was telling me to calm down. The walls were closing in on me as I fought to _stay calm _because _when you're calm you look stronger. When you look stronger, you act stronger. When you act stronger, you don't get taken down._ I repeated that bit of Bat logic in my head, over and over again.

"Look strong. Act strong. Be strong." I murmured, and continued walking. "Look strong, act strong, be strong." I repeated that mantra until I was calm again, my face a blank mask.

"Guys, I found the creature! Rendezvous at my coordinates!" Superboy's voice sounded through my comm link. I entered the coordinates into my holocomputer. I was about a mile away. Joy. The creature was near where we had started, so I would be the, if not one of, the last to get there. Since I knew the creature wasn't tracking me, I took off running, dropping all stealth. I just wanted this creature taken down, once and for all.

I turned into the cross tunnel that would take me straight to where Superboy had seen the creature. My footsteps echoed through the tunnel, making it sound like there was an army of people running, not just me. The thought was strangely comforting, as it made me feel less alone. I was getting closer, but it had already been 10 minutes since Superboy had checked in. It was a bit worrying that the others hadn't checked in as well, but they were probably too busy fighting to think about contacting the rest of us.

If we took it down, it would be a major accomplishment. We would have done something that Batman hadn't been able to accomplish, even with Rob and my help. IT would prove that we were capable, and although it might be hard, I believed we would do it. The thought made me speed up for about 100 yards, but then I realized I shouldn't be sprinting if I wanted to be in fighting condition. I slowed back to a jog, still moving faster than I would have been walking, but not fast enough to get me completely out of breath.

The tunnel opened up into what looked like a storage area. The actual sewage went down a waterfall as I walked into the florescent lit area. There were tracks of mud on the ground, and I followed them. I found Aqualad, looking thoughtful as always, standing in a pool of mud.

"Aqualad!" I called. "What happened to Clayface?"

"He ran for it. The rest of the team is in pursuit, but I thought it'd be best if I waited for you."

"Aqualad doesn't say contractions." I muttered, and moved fast, just as Clayface shot a blast of mud at me. I ducked, and the blast flew right over me. But apparently, Clayface had been expecting that, and shot a stronger burst that sent me flying through the shelves. I stood, and threw an explosive disk at him, but even though the explosion blew a hole in his chest, it quickly filled up and Clayface was healed once again. The disks didn't work, birdarangs wouldn't work, the taser ropes wouldn't work, and I was out of options. SO, I improvised. I ran at the creature, vaulting myself over his head by using a fallen crate as a block to push off of, and landed behind the creature. I threw another explosive disk, they didn't do much but that was all that I had, and watched as it turned towards me, clearly enraged.

I ran a half circle around him, back to where I started to avoid the globs of mud that were being shot at me. But I was too slow to miss all of them. One hit me straight in the chest and pushed me into the back wall. I fell to the ground. The last thing I saw were the bodies of my teammates, except for Aqualad, laying on the ground. We had all been tricked, I realized just before dark spots covered my vision and I blacked out.

The next thing I heard was glass shattering, and an explosion. The only explanation my tired mind could think of was Batman. He had found the solution. I had never been so grateful to know that my mentor was there – it was the first time in a while I had felt that way.

Until mud from the explosion landed on me. Then I was back to being ticked that he had forced me to walk through the sewer for hours.

I lifted my head to watch as he tasered the creature with a voltage that caused it to fall down and melt, turn back to the useless mud it was supposed to be. I struggled to stand as Batman glared at Aqualad for a second before turning his attention to the rest of us.

My mentor helped me to my feet, and I slung an arm around his shoulder so I would stay upright. He silently asked me if I was alright, and I didn't even bother to respond, letting the fact that I was leaning on him speak for itself. I slowly forced myself to regain my balance, and once all my teammates had been revived I could stand on my own, although I was still a bit unsteady while on my feet.

I hoped it wasn't a concussion. I had had enough of those and all I wanted to do now was sleep, not be forced to stay awake for a while to make sure I didn't fall into a coma. Even the thought of that made me shiver.

The Team and Batman Zeta'd back to the Cave.

"I need to talk to Aqualad." Batman ordered as we walked into the Cave. I was leaning heavily on Robin, I was having issues balancing, a sign of a concussion I probably had. "The rest of you hit the showers and head home." Rob and I stood there awkwardly for a second, until Batman said, "Only Aqualad."

"Shower at home?" I asked my brother.

"Why not?" He asked, and we walked back to the Zeta tubes and went to the Batcave. Alfred was waiting for us.

"Take a shower Master Dick. Miss Emma, Master Bruce sent word that you might have a concussion."

"Can I shower first?" I asked.

"Go ahead."

I turned and walked towards the showers. I was still having issues balancing, but it was a bit better now, but only a little bit. Once I was in my locker room, I turned the shower on high and stripped. The hot water burned my skin and loosened my tight muscles. The water turned brown from all the muck that had clung to my body.

I grabbed a bottle of shampoo and poured about three times as much as you're supposed to use on my head. I so needed it. The shampoo bubbled up, and smelled like green apples. I rinsed it out then filled my cupped palm with conditioner. I smothered my hair with the detangler, letting it sit for a few minutes to work as well as it should before rinsing it out. I grabbed an old brush of mine, and raked it through my hair as the water ran down, putting more conditioner on some of the more knotted areas.

I had probably been in the shower for about 20 minutes by the time I got out and dried off. I changed into my favorite pajama pants, fuzzy and green with bleu polka dots, and a tank top and walked out to the main area. Bruce was back and seated on his chair in front of the Batcomputer. I wondered what he had talked to Aqualad about.

"You so owe me." I stated. "I was in the sewer for hours!"

"She may have a concussion Alfred." Bruce stated, ignoring my outburst. "Examination table Emma. Now."

"Don't talk about me like I'm not here." I muttered angrily as I sat on the metal table in the corner. I hated that metal table. Alfred walked over towards me, Dick right behind him. My brother sat next to me on the table.

"Miss Emma the fastest random speaker in the world was President Kennedy." Alfred told me. I accepted the knowledge wordlessly, as Alfred examined my brother, who was relatively uninjured except for the fact that he was covered in bruises. Once he was cleared to go, Alfred turned back to me.

"Miss Emma, who was the fastest random speaker in the world?" I blinked, and thought about it. I thought I had been told this before, but I couldn't remember when.

"Um…" I trailed off. I should know this.

"You were right Master Bruce." Alfred called. "The answer Miss Emma was President Kennedy."

"Oh." I mumbled. "Can I go to sleep now?"

"Not yet Emma." Bruce ordered.

"But Bruce I'm tired!" I whined. If he heard me, he didn't act like it, as he turned his chair and had a quiet conversation with Alfred for a few seconds, probably about how long I had to stay awake for.

"When can I sleep?" I asked.

"Now." Bruce said, over towards me.

"Seriously?" I was surprised, usually I had to wait a few hours at least before I was allowed to sleep.

"Yes, but you need to wake up and text me every hour." I could deal with that. I could just program my phone to send a text saying 'I'm alive' once an hour. "And if it says the same things every time because you programmed it to text me, Alfred will make you stay awake for 48 hours."

"Got it." I muttered then made my way up the stairs back into the normal house, using the railing for the first time in months. I walked unsteadily up to my room, and set my alarm on my phone to go off every hour. I peeled off the covers, and crawled under them, thankful to be able to sleep.

An hour later, my alarm went off, and I texted Bruce a short _I'm alive, _and went back to sleep after resetting my alarm. An hour later, when it went off again, I said _how much longer do I have to do this?_ I kept this up every hour, until around dinner time, when I headed downstairs for dinner. Bruce was still somewhere, so Dick and I ate in silence. Alfred informed me that if I wanted to continue sleeping, I didn't have to text Bruce every hour.

I was fine with that. I was running out of sarcastic remarks anyway.

After dinner, I went to sleep again, only to be awoken an hour later from noise in the backyard. From my window, I could see Dick and Bruce playing basketball. I was suddenly very annoyed, again. I opened my window.

"Keep it down, would you?" I yelled. "I'm trying to sleep here!"

"Sorry Em!" Dick called. I rolled my eyes and slammed the window shut. First only Aqualad, now only Dick, was I invisible or something? I pulled the curtain, and jumped back onto my bed. I was angry, but I knew I couldn't do anything about it so I went back to sleep.

August 28

Gotham City, 10:00 EDT

"Hey Emma?" Dick asked, poking his head through my door. I put down Great Expectations to look at my brother.

"What do you want?" I snapped. I was still a bit annoyed with him, but it wasn't really his fault I guess.

"Can you spot me? I want to try something new and Bruce says that someone has to spot me and he's at work and-"

"Yeah sure." I stood and stretched before following my brother to the gym. I hadn't been allowed to do anything physical unless I was being watched and wasn't taking it too hard, which meant I wasn't really allowed to do anything. I had run a mile yesterday and done a little bit of boxing with a punching bag, but I had been watched the entire time. Bruce had ran with me and was watching me box from the Batcave. I had too much pent up energy, and I needed to use it or I would go crazy.

Dick was my way out. He knew that I was going crazy, I had a feeling he was doing this to make up for bugging me two days ago, and was going to let me do whatever in the gym. We did that for each other all the time, especially when the other was injured or sick. Bruce was crazy about keeping us out for the longest amount of time possible, and it took begging to be able to get back to patrolling within a decent amount of time. A decent amount of time being a month.

"Do what you want. You know I won't tell Bruce." Dick said, smirking. I did a little victory dance, before grabbing my grips and making my way over to the uneven bars. I had done gymnastics for a year or so, but then got bored because I was 'too young' to move up to the levels where I would actually be challenged. They wouldn't let me move past level 6 even though I could do the skills because I was 'too young'. That ended my competitive gymnastics career. But we still had all the equipment in the gym and I loved to use it from time to time.

I slipped on my grips, grabbed a springboard and jumped up to the top uneven bar. I pulled myself up, elbows bent back and my ribs resting on the bar, for a few seconds before I dropped a bit and began to swing, building momentum. Once I had enough, I went 360 and into a handstand on top of the bar. I swung back down and released, flipping in midair, my arms out as I grabbed the lower bar. I swung a few times back and forth on the lower bar before releasing angina and moving back to the high bar. I swung a few times before going back into a handstand on the bar.

I held it for a second, looking at everything from a different perspective as the blood rushed to my head. Dick had moved the springboard away and was spotting me. He gave me a thumbs up, and I swung again, before releasing and down a flip straight into the air. I grabbed the bar again, my fingers almost slipping – key word being almost – and swung one more time before doing a backflip and dismounting. I landed in a crouch, but I didn't need to take a step, which was good.

"I still don't know why you quit gymnastics," Dick stated, "You're good at it."

"You are too," I remarked as I took off my grips, "Bab's going to try to force into joining the school gymnastics team."

"You should." Dick said simply before slipping on his grips. "Spot me?"

"That's the reason I came down here in the first place!" I laughed then watched as my brother took a turn on the bars. He was just as good, if not better than I was, not that I'd ever tell him I thought he might be better, but you know. Thought that counts and all that fun shit.

I was taking a turn on the beam a few hours later, when the worst happened

"Emma!" Bruce yelled, causing me to almost slip off the beam. Dick was by my side a second later, even though I had already regained my balance. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Almost falling cuz you startled me!" I yelled back.

"I told you to take the week off!"

"I thought you knew I wouldn't?"

"Bruce," Dick started, "It's my fault I talked her into-"

"Don't listen to him, it was my fault, okay? He asked me to come and spot him, and I did that then started doing other stuff, okay? Now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for my nap. Cuz that's what I'm supposed to be doing." I walked up the stairs and brushed past Bruce, who was still standing in the doorway. I stomped back up to my bedroom, and threw myself back on the bed. I fell asleep within the hour.

I awoke to voices. I turned and looked at the clock – it was five in the morning. Bruce and Alfred were having a conversation outside my door.

"I worry about her. She goes off and does exactly what I tell her not to half the time, even if she knows I'm right."

"Miss Emma has a talent for disregarding what you say Master Bruce." Alfred responded.

"I think being on the Team is helping a bit, she seems happier now that she gets to work away from me." Bruce paused. "Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking taking her in as well. My original plan was to just take Dick in, but when I saw her glare silently at the world, not shedding a tear, I knew that she would get into trouble if she was sent to the orphanage. She'd probably be in with the Shadows by now.

"I've heard Talia offer Emma a spot in the Shadows multiple times, not that Emma knows that, she hasn't told me about it, which makes me think she's considered it. I don't blame her. I know how to handle Dick, he'll tell me what he feels. But Emma just shuts the world out and won't let anyone in when something happens."

"Do you know who that reminds me of Master Bruce?" If Bruce responded, I didn't hear it. "You. You do the exact same thing. Maybe it's time you opened up and stopped waiting for Miss Emma to." I heard the butler's quiet footsteps echo down the hallway, and Bruce's follow a few seconds after.

**AN: I like this a lot. Especially the last two parts. Sorry any gymnasts that are reading this, the only source of information that I had was the web, the Olympics, and things my friend who's a gymnast told me. Review!**


	9. Chapter 9

Lone Eagle

Chapter 9

Bialya

September 4, 00:16 EEST

The sun was blindingly hot and bright as I trekked through the desert. I had no clue how I had gotten here or why I was here, but I kept on walking. Thank god Robin was with me, I hated being alone in unfamiliar places almost as much as I hated crowds of people.

Although my I usually loved my uniform, I was beginning to detest it in the desert. Its dark colors trapped the heat making me feel hotter than I probably should have been. But Rob and I kept on walking. We were here for a reason, hopefully if we kept moving we'd find out said reason.

I knew that Batman sent us here though. And I wanted to strangle him. But something else was telling me that I had other reasons to strangle him as well, although I couldn't for the life of me remember what the heck they were.

My brother and I crouched behind a rock as a cloud of dust grew on the horizon. Cars of some sort, maybe a caravan? I wasn't sure, but the two of us stayed back so we wouldn't be seen if the vehicles were threats. Rob silently climbed higher to make us harder to spot and I joined him as we watched the truck race by, paying us no heed. We hadn't been seen

"Those were Bialyain Republican Army Uniforms," Rob muttered as we watched the truck disappear into the dunes of the desert. "But what are Bialyains doing in, uh" He trailed off as he opened his map. "Bialya."

"Oh, now that that makes perfect sense, what are _we _doing in Bialya?" I snapped.

"In… oh shit September! What happened to March?"

"What happened to summer?" I cried. "What did we do?"

"Better radio Batman." Rob said then paused. "DO you remember Batman saying to maintain radio silence?" He asked. I thought for a second, and something came up. Batman ordering us to maintain radio silence in a Cave… but it wasn't the Batcave.

"Now that you mention it, yeah. But what the heck are we doing here? Is this one of those instances where you break the rules because I am so down for breaking rules?"

"Why?" Rob asked.

"Something tells me Bats did something to completely piss me off between March and now."

"But what?" Rob questioned.

_"Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking taking her in as well. My original plan was to just take Dick in, but when I saw her glare silently at the world, not shedding a tear, I knew that she would get into trouble if she was sent to the orphanage. She'd probably be in with the Shadows by now."_ Oh, that explains it. I was going to strangle him. Not take me in? He seriously thought that I'd have joined the Shadows?

"Oh, um…" I trailed off.

"You remembered, didn't you?"

"Yeah…" I murmured.

"What happened?" I couldn't tell him. I couldn't, it would kill him. They actually got along really well, and I didn't want to be the one to ruin it.

"I don't want to talk about it." He sent me a look that clearly said the conversation wasn't over, but followed me as I flipped down from the ledge we stood on, creating a small cloud of dust as I landed. Robin walked over to a rock which had a piece of black fabric on it. ON the fabric, in red, was the S shield.

"What the heck did we do in the past six months?" I asked, annoyed. I was so over this – whatever it was. Just get me back out of the sun and the desert already please! Although Bats was in Gotham, it sounded like a better place to be than Bialya.

"Breaking radio silence is sounding pretty good right now." Rob added.

"How about we try to figure out why we're here, before giving in and breaking the rules."

"I'm cool with that."

"So broskis, which direction?"

"How about towards the explosions?" Rob asked, sounding like a kid who was begging to go into a candy shop.

"Eh, what the heck." I said, as we began to walk in the same direction as the trucks that had driven. "Wait shouldn't we check our GPS to see where we've been?"

"Good idea." I watched as Rob pulled his up, and scanned it. There was one a decent walk away. And by decent I mean about 5 to 10 miles.

"So, to the place you marked for who knows what reason?"

"Let us be off!" Rob exclaimed in a mock British accent before running ahead. I laughed and followed him.

A few hours later, we were walking under the moonlight – like in one of those crappily cheesy romance movies – except for the fact that we were in the middle of a desert and it was super-hot. It had cooled off significantly once the sun had set, but it still was a bit warm for my taste. I preferred cold weather – always have, always will. At least I can remember things about myself, I mused as we walked in silence.

"I wish I could remember why I put a marker here." Robin muttered as we covered the last 100 yards or so to the GPS mark. As I looked, I could see some sort of machine that we had probably put there. "I guess that's why."

"No shit Sherlock." I whispered as we crouched on a dune. There didn't seem to be anyone near it, but better safe than sorry I guess. Rob and I took turns checking the area. "It looks like we're alone." With a nod, we leapt over the dune, and landed in the sand. I instantly took up a fighting stance.

This was good because Bialyian soldier rose from the sand, gun in hand and aimed at us. They yelled something that I couldn't understand but it was kind of obvious that it was an order to attack us because after second that was what they did. As the soldiers advanced, Rob dropped a smoke bomb, and I maneuvered through the screen, using it to my advantage.

I hit the first soldier I saw with a punch in the gut. Once he was winded, I went for the pressure point on his neck, knocking him out. Another appeared a few seconds later, and kicked him, causing him to fall. Not that I stayed around to watch it happen. I threw a birdarang at another to disarm him then swept his legs out from under him.

"I'll take that! Thanks!" I heard a familiar voice as I dodged the bullets being shot at me. What was KF doing here with us?

I didn't spend much time thinking it over – I just turned to another soldier and tried to punch him but he was pushed back by an invisible force.

"Thank you whoever you are!" I called. I turned to help my brother or KF but all of the soldiers were down.

"Hey! Broskis!" I called to KF, but Robin looked at me as well. "Not you bird brain, Flash Boy. No hello for your favorite ferocious birdie?"

"Was that necessary Eagle?" The speedster whined.

"Anything to annoy you is necessary." I retorted as I stood next to KF and Robin.

"Memory loss?" KF asked.

"Six months!" Rob exclaimed. "Let's hogtie theses idiots and compare notes!" I laughed then with the blonde archer girl – whose name apparently was Artemis – tied up the soldiers.

"So we're a Team?" Robin asked. We had gone over what we remembered of the past six months – I obviously omitted some things, but there were still a bunch of holes.

"The five of us and Superboy." Miss Martian agreed.

"Then this must be his." Rob held up the tattered piece of shirt bearing the S Shield.

"Yes! Did you see him?"

"I think we did." Artemis responded.

"Feral boy?" KF asked. "Some teammate. He attacked us."

"He didn't know who we were." Artemis countered. "I don't know who we are!"

"I don't know who you are." I muttered. Robin elbowed me, and I glared at him.

"So Batman was ordering radio silence. Our team must work for him!" Ugh. Working for Batman even more? How stupid had I gotten in six months?

"How do you know we don't work for my mentor?" KF asked, touching the Flash symbol on his suit which turned from its black and grey back to its original colors. "So cool!" he exclaimed. The rest of us hit our symbols, but nothing happened. KF kept changing the color of his uniform, a slightly deranged looking smile on his face.

"We look ridiculous." Artemis snapped. KF ignored her and continued playing with his suit. "Quit touching yourself!" She yelled at him. The archer sent one last glare at the speedster, and then turned to the rest of us. "We need our memories back."

"I second the motion." I responded. "But the real question is who took them and why?"

Suddenly, the scenery changed. Dramatically. We were inside a dome, with mirror like things showing what we remembered.

"I've brought you into my mind to share what I've remembered so far." Miss M said. SO this was her mind? Weird. "But I need your help. Together our broken memories _can_ form a whole. If you open your minds to mine."

"You want to go through our private thoughts?" Artemis accused.

"I have no wish to intrude but-"

"You need to hack our minds to find out what happened to us. Got it, go!" Rob exclaimed.

"My brain's all yours. Try not to let its brilliance overwhelm you."

"Or underwhelm you." Rob retorted. "Hey, why isn't anyone ever just whelmed?" I bit my lip and looked around awkwardly. The boys had agreed. It was just Artemis and I left to decide. But could I trust Miss M? I must have if we were on a Team. But my mind was my own. I'd been trained to build walls around it so not even Martian Manhunter could get it. Could I really just let down those walls for the first time in years?

I had to. For our mission to succeed. I sighed.

"Take only what you need." I said.

"Last six months only. And only what you need." Artemis agreed. Miss M nodded, and then four hands shot out of her own and placed themselves on our heads.

"The Watchtower detected an immense power surge in the Bialyian desert. Spectral analysis revealed elements nonterestrial in origin. Find out what happened at that sight – what landed there." I stood in the back next to – oh shit Aqualad – and studied my boots desperately wanting to be anywhere but here. "Bialya is a rogue state, ruled by Queen Bee, and not a member of the Justice League's UN Charter. All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times.

"You'll land in Qurac, on Bialya's border, two clicks from the hot zone."

"All clear." Rob announced as we stepped off the Bioship into the desert night. Superboy was carrying the machine Rob and I had seen while the rest of us separated into teams and moved out.

"The Bialyians control the site." Robin, Artemis, and I were looking down at a camp, brightly lit in the desert night. It was surrounded by soldiers and I remember thinking there was no way we'd be able to get into the tent without causing some sort of distraction far enough away to give the others enough time to get inside.

_Set up here._ Aqualad ordered. Superboy dropped the monitoring system and Rob and I knelt down while we programmed it to work for us while the others watched.

"We'll be up and running in no time." Robin reported as I typed.

"Jackpot! The site's lousy with Zeta Beam radiation!" KF exclaimed.

"There's tons of nonterestrial trace elements in the tent." I stated as I studied the screen.

"I'll check it out in camouflage mode." Miss M suggested.

"Good idea. Go." Aqualad ordered.

"Careful." Superboy said.

"And maintain telepathic contact."

"I will Aqualad."

The link was broken.

"Aqualad!" I exclaimed then blushed when I realized the others had done the same thing I had.

"Where is he? What happened next?" Rob demanded.

"I don't know!" Miss M exclaimed. "That's the last thing I-we remember."

"We landed 24 hours ago. If Kaldur's been wandering the desert that long, well, that's not good for a guy with gills." KF added. I nodded in agreement. Our leader was probably in trouble. Hopefully he had just collapsed somewhere on the desert floor and wasn't in the tent.

"Now that I know to look for him," Rob muttered, before pulling up his holocomputer and using it to locate our missing teammate. "He's close! But he's not moving."

"Lead on." I said to Rob, who gave me a weird look. "What?"

"You're second in command. Shouldn't you be leading?"

"Says the boy who already has his GPS up and programmed." I sighed. "Just go."

It was about a five minute walk to get to Aqualad, but we found him lying on the sand, delirious and muttering in a language I could understand.

"I can't restore his memories in this condition." Miss M stated, sounding worried. I didn't blame her, Aqualad looked horrible.

"He needs immediate rehydration. Call the bioship!" Robin ordered. I rolled my eyes. He had gone from telling me to lead to leading himself in the space of five minutes! It was annoying, but I didn't say anything. I was pretty sure everyone on the team thought Robin was better suited for the job as leader. Although I hated to admit it, Rob was a better leader than I was.

"It's out of range. But you can get him there fast!" Miss M turned to KF.

"He's too heavy." The speedster stated. "And I'm too low on fuel. Right now I couldn't even carry Eagle." Oh so now I was the smallest one.

"Ha ha ha." I muttered. "Very funny." I hated being called small or light or anything like that. I mean, yeah, I was 14, and barely 5 ft. and I did weigh less than 100 lbs., but still! People didn't have to like call me on it.

"Why not just levitate him back?" Artemis added.

"She has a good point." I said.

"I can't!" Miss M sounded distraught. "I have to find Superboy! Six months ago he didn't exist. He has no memories, just animal impulse! I'm the only one who can help him."

"Superboy's indestructible. Just ask those tanks! It's Aqualad who needs your help, like now!"

"I hate to say it, but I'm with the idiot speedster on this one." I added. "Superboy can survive on his own for the time it'll take you to get Aqualad to the bioship."

"No!" Miss Martian screamed. "Superboy's in pain!" And she flew off towards the Kryptonian.

"M'gann, wait!" Artemis yelled.

"We still don't know what erased our memories!" Rob added. Just when this mission couldn't get any worse, babam! It did. "It could happen again!"

"Anyone else here love deserts?" I snapped, sarcasm dripping from my voice. "Yeah didn't think so."

"So now what?" Artemis asked, sounding annoyed herself.

"Drag Aqualad back to the bioship, get him set up in there with an IV then go after Miss M. Simple, done, now let's get moving. I want this done fast, just in case our memories do get erased again." I ordered. Everyone gave me a weird look, and I looked to the ground, blushing. This was so not my forte.

I watched as KF and Rob formed a makeshift sled using a burlap sack and two rods we found lying around our camp. I let Rob lead with the GPS and walked behind Kid Flash and Artemis, who were carrying the stretcher. It was peaceful in the desert, and unlike in Gotham you could actually see stars. As we walked, I racked my brain to find the names of all the constellations I could see – a difficult task as I had learned the names of all of them years ago from my mom. And once she was gone I stopped wishing on stars because I knew that it was fake – that no matter what I did my parents were dead and there was nothing, nothing, I could do about it.

And I accepted it. Faster than my brother did because he had always had his head up in the clouds more. He was the one who could dance and joke minutes after he was chastised. He was the one who easily made friends, who could talk to anyone for hours on end. Robins are songbirds, they chirp and sing and fly, sometimes without a purpose. But eagles are birds of prey. They prefer to be on their own, are smart and calculating. Yes, Rob's smart, probably smarter than me, but from an early age, I was the one who would focus for hours on end until I mastered a skill. I was the one who loved being able to do whatever I wanted more than anything.

Eagles symbolize freedom, leadership, wisdom, and determination. Robins symbolize joy, hope, clarity, and new beginnings. They are two completely different creatures. But somehow, Rob and I seem so similar most of the time.

I will never know why my parents chose to call me Eagle. No one will, I guess, unless there is life after death I suppose. But I like to believe they called me that because they believed I could become a great leader, because they believed that one day I could make the right choices. And although sometimes that makes me feel better, most of the time it makes me feel like I have another unreachable target.

"Quick – over there." Robin muttered, snapping me out of my thoughts. We hid behind a rock while more army trucks drove by. Aqualad muttered something incomprehensible, again as I heard the quiet footsteps of more soldiers.

"Shh Kaldur, quiet now." Artemis whispered, trying to soothe the Atlantean. I knew it wouldn't work; he couldn't get better until he had some fluids in him but I didn't tell that to the archer.

"We can't risk a firefight with Aqualad KO'd like this." Rob said to us.

"It's not just him," KF added. I was proud of the speedster for staying quiet; it usually wasn't one of his fortes. "I'm running out of juice."

"And I'm almost out of arrows." I ran a quick inventory of my belt. I too was running low on gear, I only had two birdarangs, a bola, my bo staff, three explosive disks, and two grappling guns left. Rob nudged me and mouthed the word 'disappear'. I nodded, and stealthily moved across the desert floor, trying to get closer to the soldiers without them seeing us. Robin nudged me again, before setting his explosive disks to a minute, with his cackle going off for the last 30 seconds. I grinned then programmed mine to do the same. We slid them across the desert floor so they landed in the soldiers' path, and then hightailed it back to the others.

"Sesh, get a room!" My brother was joking, or I thought so at least, but he sounded completely serious.

"Where were you guys?" KF demanded.

"Breaking radio silence." Rob said nonchalantly as our laughs began going off. As soon as the explosion occurred, Robin spoke. "That's our cue. Move!" We ran in the other direction, back towards the bioship. KF really must have been drained because it looked like he was having as hard of a time keeping up the heavy pace as I was. I really was not a distance runner I preferred sprinting short distance. But I kept up with the others, grudgingly, wanting nothing more than to be back at the Manor, in my room, forcing myself to read The Art of War.

Qurac

September 5, 02:32 EEST

We had gotten Aqualad hooked up to an IV, and he seemed to be doing better – or had at least stopped muttering.

_Hey everyone, I've got Superboy! He's back to normal and we're on our way. _ Miss M's voice sounded in our heads. Aqualad abruptly sat up, and if I knew his memory hadn't been wiped I would have laughed so damn hard. The normally calm and collected Atlantean actually looked surprised.

"Who are you?" He said. "And how did you get inside my head?"

_Hello Megan! Aqualad's memories! I knew I forgot something. _ I smiled. Everything was getting back to normal – or as normal as it ever could be.

_Aw man! Me too! I didn't get a souvenir from the mission!_

_Don't worry, got the souvenir thing covered._

Oh lordy, I did not want to see what the soviet was. Knowing my teammates it would be crazy. But I smiled anyways.

We were teenage superheroes. Of course we were a bit crazy.

* * *

**AN: Sorry this is so short n crappy. I started school, and my mom's been an electronics Nazi and and I've been pretty busy. I'll try to have the next chapter up within two weeks. But thanks for the reviews, follows, and favorites. Keep them coming - they make me want to write more!**


End file.
